Reactions to 'The Other Side of the Wind'

[Tony]

I think the elephant in our room is the fact that we have been anxiously waiting for this film for years, some of us for decades, and personally I've been waiting for it since the AFI broadcast of 1975- 43 years! Almost half a century! So objectivity is out the window for most Wellesians- anything professionally put together would more than satisfy us. But what of non-Wellesians- those people who may have only seen Kane and perhaps Third man- what will they think? And going further, what of the younger generation who have never heard of Welles, who have grown up on video games and action flicks? And who have never seen a black and white movie, or for that matter any movie made before 1990- or maybe even 2000?

My take so far is that the majority of reviewers have taken a respectful stance toward the picture- they know who Welles was, and don't want to be too critical of a labour of love like Wind. All of us who haven't seen it yet will just have to wait for the Netflix presentation, unless we're lucky enough to see it on the big screen in one of those "select theatres".

But I'm sure that I will never be able to be very objective about it- after all, I've been in love with it for years....

[tonyw]

I've yet to see it but, as mentioned before, F FOR FAKE, always impresses a new generation of students. Those interested in technique even being introduced to b/w and 8mm, will not prove an obstacle since they may probably welcome its experimental structure as opposed to the formulaic dross they usually experience. One studnet in my 2015 Welles class was so impressed by projects such as "Fountain of Youth" that he felt the whole class should be devoted to that side of Welles.

Also, never underestimate the younger generation. There may be artistically conservative types around but many welcome this exciting type of experimentalism they mostly have never witnessed before.

[RayKelly]

(Wellesnereview): "'The Other Side of the Wind' is a monument to the heart of a 50-something maverick; unbowed by years of having doors slammed in his face and unafraid to take bold, artistic chances." Read the full review at
http://www.wellesnet.com/review-other-side-wind/

[tonyw]

A very fine, measured review. Thank you, Ray.

[atcolomb]

Great review Ray and will be ready to subscribe to Netflix after a long absence just to see it.

[jbrooks]

Nice review Ray. One question -- is it Welles or Huston saying "cut" at the end of the credits? I had read elsewhere that it was Welles.

[RayKelly]

Nice review Ray. One question -- is it Welles or Huston saying "cut" at the end of the credits? I had read elsewhere that it was Welles.

I read the same thing, and I paid extra attention to that moment. It was Huston.

[Wich2]

Well-writ review, Ray.

Thanks,
- Craig

[leamanc]

(Wellesnereview): "'The Other Side of the Wind' is a monument to the heart of a 50-something maverick; unbowed by years of having doors slammed in his face and unafraid to take bold, artistic chances." Read the full review at
http://www.wellesnet.com/review-other-side-wind/

Excellent, even-tempered review, Ray. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Terry]

A bad review on Youtube from thatmovieguyUK, who prefers F for Fake and found Wind to be headache-inducing and lacking in substance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIqS8B2gZNE

[RayKelly]

The Other Side of the Wind makes The Hollywood Reporter's list of the 25 Favorite Films From the Fall Fests

"After a 48-year limbo, the fascinating final dramatic feature by Orson Welles has arrived — largely edited by others, but, in its kaleidoscopic look at the final day in the life of an old Hollywood director, still rich with the themes and late-career style of the great one.' — Todd McCarthy

[RayKelly]

From The Film Stage: For all its jumbled narrative, that The Other Side of the Wind’s labyrinthine structure still feels somewhat cohesive is nothing short of a miracle. Editor Bob Murawski (who toggled between 16mm, 35mm, black-and-white and color) and sound editor Daniel Saxlid (who reconstructed damaged or nonexistent dialogues from outtakes, words, and syllables) are the real heroes here ... working to resuscitate Welles’ vision must have felt like putting together a puzzle without knowing its shape or number of pieces. But the work paid off. The Other Side of the Wind is not a comeback picture in the sense Touch of Evil was supposed to be. It is a confounding, unsettling, disorienting adieu from a director whose nonconformist and uncompromising vision was decades ahead of his time. Venturing into it is to embark on an entrancing, kaleidoscopic journey — a quintessentially Wellesian seesaw between fiction and truth.
Read the full review at https://thefilmstage.com/reviews/venice-review-the-other-side-of-the-wind-is-orson-welles-entrancing-confounding-farewell/

[Le Chiffre]

(Wellesnereview): "'The Other Side of the Wind' is a monument to the heart of a 50-something maverick; unbowed by years of having doors slammed in his face and unafraid to take bold, artistic chances." Read the full review at
http://www.wellesnet.com/review-other-side-wind/

That's a terrific review, Ray. Makes me want to see it all the more. I was struck by this sentence, tho:

The Other Side of the Wind concludes with several minutes of credits before we hear Hannaford's voice utter "Cut."

That seems like a pretty significant deviation from Welles's script. Or at least the script I read.

[Wellesnet]

"They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" gets lukewarm review from Film Stage.com:
https://thefilmstage.com/reviews/camden ... -the-wind/

[RayKelly]

The Other Side of the Wind concludes with several minutes of credits before we hear Hannaford's voice utter "Cut."

That seems like a pretty significant deviation from Welles's script. Or at least the script I read.

Yes, in the script I read, "Cut" is heard at the end of the drive-in sequence, not the end of the credits. I am not sure how it appears in the other versions of the script. Also, there may have been written notes or comments made by Welles indicating a change.
Frankly, I am not sure how significant a deviation it is, though I like the idea of it heard over the final image, rather than the credits.
The biggest change is having the opening narration done by a character in the film (Otterlake) rather than the filmmaker.