Orson Welles’ Most Controversial Film and Its Lasting Impact

Few filmmakers have ever carried the weight of expectation quite like Orson Welles. After bursting onto the scene with his legendary debut, Citizen Kane, Welles was instantly hailed as a prodigy, his name forever linked to what many consider the greatest film ever made. But that early triumph cast a long shadow, making every project that followed seem like it fell short, no matter how bold or inventive.

Struggling With Expectations

Welles spent much of his career wrestling with the critical response to his work. He took negative reviews to heart, especially when it came to projects that broke new ground. In a candid conversation with Peter Biskind, captured in My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles, he reflected on the chilly reception to his unconventional documentary, F for Fake. He described the experience as “the tragedy of my life.”

I think, F for Fake is the only really original movie I’ve made since Kane,” he said. “You see, everything else is only carrying movies a little further along the same path. I believe that the movies, I’ll say a terrible thing, have never gone beyond Kane. That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been good movies, or great movies. But everything has been done now in movies, to the point of fatigue.

Breaking the Mold

Unlike anything he’d attempted before, F for Fake blended documentary footage with staged scenes and personal commentary. Welles poured himself into the project, determined to push the boundaries of what film could be. While his willingness to experiment earned him the admiration of fellow directors, the film’s lack of commercial appeal left it overlooked by audiences and critics alike.

Despite the harsh criticism, Welles remained deeply invested in the film’s success. He hoped it would spark a new direction for cinema, inspiring others to rethink the possibilities of the medium. As he put it,

You can do it better, but it’s always gonna be the same grammar, you know? Every artistic form, the blank-verse drama, the Greek plays, the novel, has only so many possibilities and only so long a life, and I have a feeling that in movies, until we break completely, we are only increasing the library of good works. I know that as a director of movie actors in front of the camera, I have nowhere to move forward. I can only make another good work.

Legacy and Rediscovery

F for Fake would become one of the last major projects Welles completed. Many of his later films remained unfinished, often due to financial setbacks. He did manage to release the documentary Filming Othello, a personal look at his Shakespeare adaptation, but his final narrative feature, The Other Side of the Wind, wouldn’t see the light of day until years after his passing, finally completed and released thanks to a dedicated restoration effort.

Though F for Fake was initially dismissed, time has been kind to Welles’ daring experiment. The film is now celebrated as a masterpiece, and when The Other Side of the Wind eventually premiered on Netflix, critics were ready to appreciate the director’s last vision with the respect it deserved.