Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind

[Sin Agog]

Should be landing on Netflix sometime today, along with an accompanying doc, 'They'll Love Me When I'm Dead.'

https://film.avclub.com/lost-for-decades-orson-welles-the-other-side-of-the-w-1830099473

[Small Man Big Horse]

I love Welles to pieces and can't wait to see it, and will probably spend the day refreshing the torrent sites until it turns up.

[chveik]

goody! for once netflix is doing something great

[Sin Agog]

I wonder if this is an ever-so-slightly cynical attempt to court the TCM lot, who'll probably be a bit fucked off when they sign up for a subscription only to find 1001 near-identical supernatural teen shows and Korean soaps.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Been eagerly awaiting this for years, and when it comes out I have an ear infection that turns all sound into a shrill, tinny sludge. Fucking furious mate. I cannot describe to you just how overjoyed I am that this is out and available to see. It's a miracle. I'll be catching up with it in a couple of weeks, probably. The inescapable human body

[Sin Agog]

I dig it quite a lot.  Reminds me somewhat of a few other vanity/passion projects by monumental egomaniacs with lunatic editing, like Kinski's Paganini and Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie (pretty sure that was Hopper turning up for a few seconds twenty-five minutes in).  Also maybe a bit of Conrad's Nostromo when it comes to building up a legend out of mist and air.  I take back my TCM comment, as this couldn't be further away from tight old Hollywood films.  It's a crazy mix of different aspect ratios, constant cuts, beautifully shot softcore otherworlds, and grainy verite.  Haven't seen the doc yet, but it might be advisable watching it first if you want a more sensible viewing experience.

[prwc]

I liked it very much, and the documentary was a good watch too. I can imagine this horrifying some fans of Welles more conventional material but it was right up my alley.

Aside from the aforementioned titles the film it reminded me most strongly of was Nicholas Ray's We Can't Go Home Again. More meta 70s experimentation from an old Hollywood legend.

[chveik]

I liked it very much, and the documentary was a good watch too. I can imagine this horrifying some fans of Welles more conventional material but it was right up my alley.

Why? Welles was never a conventional director.

[Sin Agog]

Aside from the aforementioned titles the film it reminded me most strongly of was Nicholas Ray's We Can't Go Home Again. More meta 70s experimentation from an old Hollywood legend.

I thought I might have seen this years ago, but now I reckon I might be confusing it for Lightning Over Water.  Will have to hunt it down.

Why? Welles was never a conventional director.

It's the editing.  This is definitely a Welles film, what with all the legend-building and themes culled from his own life.  But there've been a few instances of directors barricading themselves inside editing rooms and going insane in there.  The results are never long, spare takes.  Why would you have to put in so many hours just for that?  No, they're always herky-jerky kaleidoscopic mish-mashes from someone so painfully familiar with the story that they just want to paw and claw at the fucker until it feels fresh again.  That will be something new to most Welles fans.  And hopefully they'll just hang in there until it clicks, because there is a lot of reward in doing so.  The documentary, which I also liked, had the hubris to almost imply that the making of doc is the real film, which is an argument you can understand when applied to one of the world's best raconteurs- that the recounting of events is more seismic than the events themselves- but I disagree. It's a great picture that I'm sure will reveal even more riches with subsequent viewings.  I will admit, I did find it a bit hard to shake off John Huston's role in Chinatown when watching this, especially every time that blonde who looks about twelve was handing him drinks.  He is a fascinating fucker, though, who's lived more of a life than all of us (and actually died more times than any of us will if some stories I've heard are to be believed) so it was still great seeing him.

[Small Man Big Horse]

As mentioned earlier on in the thread I love Welles, and used to be a bit obsessed by him in my late teens / early twenties, yet for some unknown reason only got round to watching this today. It left me a bit cold as well, I just don't quite know what to make of it, as a study of an ailing director struggling for finance to complete a film Huston was fascinating, and there were scenes with him interacting with certain characters which I found captivating, but at other times I struggled to stay interested, and there were scenes I was left confused by, and didn't quite understand the point of. I'm putting that down to my own stupidity, but I can't help but confess to feeling disappointed by it. 5.4/10