F for Fake (1974)
1.66:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 2.0
The Criterion Collection, $39.95

As a young cinematographer with only a few exploitation movies on his résumé, Gary Graver called director Orson Welles and told him he’d like to work with him. Welles called back and said he was interested — the only other cinematographer who had ever sought him out was Gregg Toland, ASC (Citizen Kane).

Graver’s phone call sparked a 15-year professional collaboration with Welles and Oja Kodar, a writer, actress and Welles’ all-around muse. Many of their projects were never fully realized because of various financial and legal entanglements, but one that was completed is the brilliant documentary F for Fake, which The Criterion Collection recently released on DVD. The film uses the story of art forger Elmyr de Hory and his devious biographer, Clifford Irving (who penned a phony Howard Hughes “autobiography”), to both critique and celebrate fakery of all types — and to suggest that the lies spun by de Hory and Irving were no less valid than the truths told by the “experts” who validated their phony works.

This high-definition picture transfer is an improvement over Criterion’s earlier laserdisc of the film, although the image is marred at times by scratches that appear to originate in the source material. (Welles made extensive use of found footage.) A good portion of F for Fake consists of preexisting material, but the movie also features some beautiful images shot by Graver that look better here than in any previous video incarnations. The best example of this is a sequence depicting an alleged meeting between Kodar and Pablo Picasso that is surprisingly lyrical for a film that owes most of its aesthetic to the documentary form.

A commercial failure upon its release, F for Fake now appears to have been about 30 years ahead of its time. Welles’ audacious fusion of personal commentary, documentary footage, and staged material presages contemporary documentaries such as Tarnation and Fahrenheit 9/11, which break down the documentary/narrative divide in an effort to reveal the filmmaker’s own version of the truth. But Welles not only acknowledges the ethical and artistic perils of such an approach, he also makes those perils his central subject.

Like Jean-Luc Godard, Welles enjoyed experimenting with his promotional material. Included on this DVD is the nine-minute theatrical trailer for F for Fake, a fascinating extension of the themes and style of the movie. (It contains footage that was shot after F for Fake was completed.) Disc one of this two-disc set also includes an introduction by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and a commentary track by Graver and Kodar. Though their reminiscences are enjoyable, the commentary is slightly disappointing given the richness of the film. (It’s too bad film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who provides the disc’s superb liner notes, did not participate in the commentary.)

After Welles’ death, Kodar gave filmmakers Vassili Silovic and Roland Zag access to the many fragments of incomplete films the director left behind, and the resultant documentary, Orson Welles: One-Man Band, is featured on disc two. This supplement alone justifies the purchase of this DVD for Welles fans, as it contains rarely seen footage from projects such as The Other Side of the Wind, Moby Dick, The Deep, The Merchant of Venice and The Dreamers. Other supplements complement F for Fake by providing alternative views of its subjects; there’s a documentary on de Hory, a 60 Minutes interview with Irving, and an audio recording of a 1972 press conference in which Howard Hughes addresses Irving’s hoax.

— Jim Hemphill