What I’m Watching: a legendary film by Orson Welles

Date: 11/7/2018

What I’m watching: a legendary film by a legendary director.

On Netflix: “The Other Side of the Wind”

If you’re even casually interested in movies, I think it’s difficult not to be intrigued by the films and career of Orson Welles. In most film history classes, his “Citizen Kane” is required viewing, but few of his subsequent films are deemed worthy enough to be paired with that film, called the best American movie ever made.

The fact is Welles made compelling, interesting films through the rest of his life – movies that are worthy of both praise and time. He just did not direct in America for years and his European films did not always get the distribution and attention they deserved.

Welles stayed in the public view through his many acting jobs, talk show appearances and commercial endorsements, but as a filmmaker he couldn’t escape the curse of having such success with his first movie.

Welles’ final years of his life were dominated by his incomplete film “The Other Side of the Wind,” a move he started shooting in 1971, completed photography in 1975 and then lost the rights to finish the film to people who had fronted part of the production budget.

It was to be the film that would mark his re-entry into the Hollywood industry as a director and instead it became a legendary tale of supposed excess and failure.

Now, thanks to Netflix, the audience will be able to see the vision Welles intended – he had assembled a rough cut and left many notes about how the film should be edited.

The result is a film as audacious as “Kane” was. The story revolves around Jake Hannaford, (John Houston) a legendary director celebrating his 70th birthday at a wild party to which he has invited independent film crews, movie historians and others. Hannaford is working on a film called “The Other Side of the Wind,” and he is screening some of the footage at his party in an effort to show he is still relevant as a filmmaker.

The party, told through footage shot by the various film crews, turn out to be an event that questions and reveals much more about Hannaford than celebrates him.

There is a lot going on in this film. This is a story of last chances and of efforts to cheat the system – for instance, there is a great scene in which the studio head watching some of Hannaford’s footage is made aware there is no script for the movie he has financed.

Hannaford’s lackey tells the studio head with a smile, “He’s done it before.”

It’s a movie about how film criticism is not just about analyzing a movie but also trying to draw conclusions about a director’s personal life from his or her work.

It’s also a story about how “great” men are not always worthy of the title, and how we should be careful creating our heroes.

It’s a film that speaks to the crazy indulgence of Hollywood. There are two sequences that makes little sense except to speak to such excesses: one in which Hannaford has his make-up artist construct about a dozen dummies of his most recent leading man and another involving little people in cowboy clothes setting off fireworks from the roof of Hannaford’s house in the desert.

The film has some suprising moments especially for a Welles film. There’s extended scenes with nudity and sexual content, as well several moments when Hannaford reveals a very cruel and vulgar streak.

The performances and choices in casting are fascinating. Houston seems perfect as Hannaford – charming one moment and a first class jerk after that.

Among the supporting cast is Edmund O’Brien, Lili Palmer, Susan Strasburg and John Carroll. For Welles, this was his “Hail Mary” play, an almost impossible effort to make a film that would look and act so differently than anything else he had made, furthering his reputation and would also be a commercial success.

This is a film that requires your attention. The way it is edited and shot might seem jarring at first. it requires you to be a guest at this party to see and hear multiple events at the same time.

There are two questions that have to be answered: If Welles had completed the film and found a distributor in 1976 would the film had been a box office hit?

I think honestly it would not have been the broad commercial hit Welles reportedly wanted. It would l have been an art house smash though.

The second question is whether or not this film is worthy of the hype and legend. I think it is a remarkable film and continues to push the envelope Welles started to move in 1941 with “Kane.”

Watching it made me want to re-watch every Welles film I have in my collection.

Catch it on Netflix and then watch the excellent documentary on the making of the film “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead.”