Orson Wells' independently produced 1974 documentary about fakery, hoaxes, frauds and forgeries. Conceived after Wells' falling out with Hollywood and funded with his own money, the film centers around the most prolific and infamous art forger of the 20th century, Elmyr de Hory, who also happened to be a gay Jew. At the Time of the filming, Elmyr was being studied by Clifford Irving for his biography about the art forger. Irving (coincidentally also Jewish), went on to write a fake and completely fabricated 'authorized' biography of Howard Hughes, without his consent. (Irving was the subject of the 2007 film, 'The Hoax'.) In another ironic twist, Elmyr claimed to be a holocaust survivor. (Surely he wouldn't have lied about that.)
This documentary brings up many questions: What is fake and what is real? Which 'experts' make these decisions for us? and what are these 'experts' qualifications? This is a whimsical but thought provoking look at reality and fantasy and how the lines between the two are often intentionally blurred.
Wells also exposes his own role in fakery with his 1938 radio version of 'War of the Worlds' which many people believed to be real at the time of the original broadcast. The fraud of the modern art world is also exposed. As an added bonus, this documentary shows many scenes of pre-mass immigration 1970's Europe, with all of its charms. Although bombastic at times, Orson Wells was on the cutting edge of the concept of fakery, it's impact on the mass-media, our culture and our beliefs.
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