★ 7 / 10
An interesting, at times enlightening, insight into the
Dave C
An interesting, at times enlightening, insight into the circus that was Welles' life during his journey to have his final movie realised. That no one ever…
An interesting, at times enlightening, insight into the circus that was Welles' life during his journey to have his final movie realised. That no one ever really knew his mind, is testament to his being a visionary first and a director second. Obviously, the movie didn't get finished, instead being left in financial difficulty, and chaos. Regardless of what happened, it's remarkable to hear that everyone still thought of him so highly
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★ 8 / 10
When Orson Welles comes to mind, he's identified
Kyle M
When Orson Welles comes to mind, he's identified as the auteur behind "Citizen Kane", praised debatably the greatest movie of all time according to some ranks…
When Orson Welles comes to mind, he's identified as the auteur behind "Citizen Kane", praised debatably the greatest movie of all time according to some ranks but out of modest respect is considerably one of the greatest. According to the documentary titled after his proclamation "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead", released as complementary to his final film "The Other Side of the Wind", it became his curse. The documentary focuses on the final fifteen years of his life when hoping to put it to rest with not just a comeback in Hollywood but closure to the cinematic achievement he perfected then. He started making the aforementioned film in 1970 with principal photography finished in 1976, but complications prevented him from ever finishing it. Welles passed away in 1985, but those closest to him made a promise to bring his final vision to life. After 48 years of production, "The Other Side of the Wind" finally gets unveiled.
The documentary functions routinely but also rather briefly when structuring the portrait of who Orson Welles was. Director Morgan Neville ("Won't You Be My Neighbor?") has taken the initiatives in following after the formerly-unfinished film with accounts going over the decades-long process of finalizing it, especially executive producer Peter Bogdanovich who had a major role in reviving Welles' career through his writings whilst becoming a lifelong friend. We're given minimal biographical details of Welles' beginning, but mainly focus on those fifteen years and what thoughtful insights came up during that period. Frankly, his previous milestones deserved their own sole focus per pre-acknowledged.ds on. Considering the project was his last as a filmed whole, Welles' complex stature gets further reflected and better grasped by personally connective parallels as he strived for artistic perfections.
The performatively-committed "Other Side of the Wind" starred John Huston, who frequently directed Welles as their collaboration came full circle, as a legendary but jaded Hollywood director at a media-swamped party celebrating his 70th birthday, screening his avant-garde film-in-progress. He's met with admirers and given unsettling questions about his cast, who appears silent across exploitive expressionism without a solid direction. Set as a comeback and settled as a closure to his "Citizen Kane" expectations, which is inferior but narratively comparable by modernized focus, Welles embraced the artistic state the cinema was going towards in the 70s with a mixed reception by acculturation, but the coordinated cinematography is traced with his signature. From watching "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" prior as it persuaded to turn the viewing into a double feature and gaining the insightful retrospective, it's personally underlined as he saw himself through Huston's character layered with satirical appreciation towards the director who boosted his career.
Both films were released concurrently and proved a worthy double feature clocking around 3.5 hours. If you start with the documentary, you'll be prepped with prerequisite knowledge by enhanced understanding behind Welles' complex stature and the complications he faced that are sporadically occurring in the film industry today. It's also a successful capture of his human side that solidifies the imagery buildup Neville focused on. If you start with the filmic narration, the viewing will make the documentary what it actually is: a lengthy featurette you'd access amid home media's accompaniment to learn more about the history behind the picture. Either way's equally effective, and it helps appreciate Orson Welles' craft even more over what he values, especially the spiritual connections he made with his pictures as reference commentary he profoundly relates to.
Film study mainly links Orson Welles to nurtured cinema enthusiasts discovering his prominence towards the form, and the rightly titled "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" feeds insight that furthers appreciation towards projected creativity – or/and mastery. (B+)
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They'll Love Me When I'm Dead