Criterion F For Fake DVD

[bactor]

As there is no book section, I was wondering how the F for Fake book by Claudia Thieme is. I'd appreciate any help on the issue. Also, I was wondering if there was any news on the Criterion release of F for Fake on dvd. Thanks.

[Wilson]

The Thieme book is one that I read, and yet I remember nothing about it. It was kind of a slog to get through, frankly. But your opinion may differ. Criterion's F for Fake disc is supposedly in production, but there has been no concrete word as to when it is forthcoming.

[bactor]

Thanks. I'll probably wait on the book, unless someone else out there highly recommends it.

[tonyw]

The book is really an academic dissertation which has passed unaltered into a book format via Peter Lang which generally specializes in publishing doctoral works at high prices. It does contain some interesting information but it needed what every dissertation needs before going into the realm of wider readership, namely a massive restructuring so that its ideas become more accessible than the limited doctoral oral examination.

Basically, I'd recommend getting this book via inter-library loans to read before paying a huge amount of money.

Tonyw

[blunted by community]

i am a big big fan of academic writing, and analysis, but impossible to kep eyes open while reading the F-For-Fake book. i got a gander at it through the local pub lib.

[Jaime N. Christley]

The Criterion DVD is a reality. Amazon.com (perhaps inadvertantly) let the cat out of the bag. They have a 2-disc Criterion release available for pre-order, with a late April release date. Also available on Amazon.ca.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007M2234/104-9546451-7871119

The FFF trailer received a beautiful restoration job from Munich recently - sharp lines, bold colors and clear sound. I expect it'll be one of the extras, although two discs for one eighty-five minute film makes one salivate at what else might be included.

[Wilson]

Not that Welles needs the imprimatur of Criterion to validate his work, but they've been putting out DVDs for a long time without getting round to him. And considering some of the junk they've released, it's about time. Anyone want to speculate about what might be on the disc, in lieu of an official announcement? The trailer seems a given, of course.

[Jaime N. Christley]

There will always be the Armaggedon controversy, but if you ask me, Criterion has lately started to really act like the star performer DVD company it purports to be. The Cassavetes set alone means more than any of today's Oscar nominated films, even the ones I like a lot.

I hope they don't put One-Man Band on the 2nd disc. It's nice to see the footage, but given the extraordinary amount of space afforded by a second disc (especially considering F for Fake is under ninety minutes) I'd rather see a bunch of the "Welles rarities" on their own, cleaned and color-corrected to within an inch of their lives, and divorced from the dull context of the OMB doc. That would make for an above-and-beyond Criterion release.

The two-disc release idea is too often squandered when companies use stupid "HBO First Look" programs and other puff pieces to jack the price up $10 or $15 over that of the normal single-disc releases. Whether or not you like the films calls for a debate on personal taste, but they've done some great things with the second disc: stand-alone short films by the directors (from Godard to Franju), worthwhile documentaries (A Constant Forge in the Cassavetes set), and whole feature films (Linklater's It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books, a simultaneously-filmed French-language version of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse).

[Wilson]

What makes it on there probably depends on what they won't get sued over by Beatrice. I know there's an hour long documentary on Elmyr out there, if they wanted to expand on the actual content of the film rather than just Welles and his work. It would be nice to see any of the 70s material released in a decent format at last, though.

[Jaime N. Christley]

Rosenbaum had a nice laying-down-the-law moment on a_film_by when someone suggested that Beatrice was handling all the brass tacks of the Welles estate, and he replied in no uncertain terms that THERE IS NO WELLES ESTATE, and she's certainly not in charge of it, and what's-his-name isn't even damned lawyer. It was nice that someone of his profile was putting it so unambiguously, and in such a widely read place. Hopefully Criterion has, or can, be made to realize that her power over Welles' films diminishes awfully quickly after Othello, the only film she has any real, legal power over.

That Elmyr doc sounds inneresting - and sounds like a good, substantial, "related to the film in question" kind of extra. I'm betting a small part of the farm on Welles rarities, as previously suggested, though.

Something that would be nice: if the DVD set talks at length about Francois Reichenbach and gives the viewer/buyer a solid understanding not only of what he contributed to FFF, but who the hell he was. He's a pretty neat guy whose contributions to French cinema are thought to be underestimated by some: I'd hate for people to watch F for Fake and think, "Who is that guy?" and not have anyone to tell them.

[Wilson]

I read that bit by Rosenbaum, and it's great that someone is stating these things, but if she wants to file nuisance lawsuits to claim whatever she wants to claim, will a company like Criterion bother to fight it in court, or will they just say screw it, even if they know they're in the right?

The Reichenbach suggestion is a good one, though.

[Jaime N. Christley]

I read that bit by Rosenbaum, and it's great that someone is stating these things, but if she wants to file nuisance lawsuits to claim whatever she wants to claim, will a company like Criterion bother to fight it in court, or will they just say screw it, even if they know they're in the right?

Depends on the books. Like any good company, they'll think about how much they could stand to lose (financially) if they give BW the middle finger, versus how much they would lose (artistically) if they bow out of a potential fight. (Assuming, of course, that Beatrice will give them a fight. Which isn't necessarily a guarantee. An almost-sure bet, but not an absolutely-sure one.) Maybe they'll choose the hero route, but if not, well, a company can't be blamed for being a company.

They sided with Gena Rowlands when she told them to eighty-six Ray Carney from the Cassavetes box set. A controversial move, to be sure, but not nearly as cut-and-dried as we presume the Beatrice case to be, as Gena has actual legal leverage - and she's worth her weight in artistic integrity, in my view - whilst Carney is a well-documented loon (albeit one who has successfully established himself as the #1 Cassavetes scholar in the world) with no legal power whatsoever.

Essentially: I have no idea if Criterion will do the right thing. Or the fight thing. But the fact that they've gone ahead with F for Fake after almost three hundred DVD titles is a significant move.

[colwood]

It's great to see Welles finally getting a release by Criterion. But with this being Welles and with Beatrice and all, I'm not going to jump with joy until the dvd is literally released.

As for extras, I have a feeling, if it's two discs, that we may see some of the Munich restorations. I spoke with Stefan of the FilmMuseum last year by email and, to summarize, he said that Criterion was interested in a restoration or two for extras on a proposed Welles disc. Munich was hoping for a release of all the restorations as a set. Talks with Criterion diminished but later picked up when they learned that Munich was talking with other people as well.

But I guess all we can do now is wait and see.

[Glenn Anders]

I agree with you all on the strong possibility of documentary material on Elmyr. Then, my hunch would go toward material on Clifford Irving. Irving paid back 750,000 dollars and went to jail over his biography of Howard Hughes. He has continued to write non-fiction, spy novels, and TV plays, and now lives in Mexico.

Howard Hughes would be a good bet, too, for documentary exploration, given that Criterion would have had some idea that Scorsese's THE AVIATOR would be raising lots of publicity late in 2004, early in 2005.

Nina Van Palandt, the mystery woman, of the Hughes/Irving Case, went on to have a fair career in movies, most notably in Robert Altman's THE LONG GOOD BYE.

Put all that together, and they would have a minor CITIZEN KANE, as Welles humorously suggested.

Glenn

[Oscar Christie]

I'm hoping to find out about the rumored Fake D'Hory's.