April 1st . . .
April Fools’ Day, for those of you with a yearning to pursue meaning behind meaningless things, probably derives from a change in the calendar year about 500 years ago. Before 1564 it was traditional to honor the new year with a solid week of partying, but the calendar was different in those days – the new year began on March 25, and the biggest celebration fell on April 1. 1564 marked the first year in which the first day was January 1. People who forgot the new day for celebrating were called ‘April Fools’. Over the years, the date has become the traditional day of playing practical jokes on unsuspecting victims.
Celebrate the occasion with a film oddity that is right in the spirit of the occasion – Orson Welles’ last completed film, the witty, mischievous and little-seen ‘F For Fake’ (1975). In 1977, Clifford Irving managed to publish The Autobiography of Howard Hughes, a splendid hoax that he perpetuated on the entire world. He may have gotten the idea from his next-door neighbor, a masterful art forger named Elmyr de Hory – a man who could fake a Picasso so accurately that it fooled the artist himself. Welles, no stranger to trickery (he began as a magician, and his famous ‘War of the Worlds’ radio broadcast was one of the great pranks of all time) pieced together this fascinating rumination on trickery using existing footage of both Irving and de Hory, as well as shooting new footage himself. The result is one of his most entertaining films – a wonderful sense of mischief pervades the whole beguiling movie. And yes, there’s an April Fools’ joke – but I’m not giving it away. Discover it for yourself. (Hint: Keep an eye on your watch . . . )
Can’t find ‘F For Fake’? As a standby, consider ‘The Game’ (1997), director David Fincher’s original and stylish Rubik’s Cube of a movie starring Michael Douglas as Nicholas Van Orton, a millionaire investment banker whose estranged brother (Sean Penn) gives him a birthday present that is more than meets the eye. Soon Van Orton’s world is turned upside down as he tries to figure out what the game really is, if he lives long enough. Clever screenplay by John Brancato and Michael Ferris.
Click here to see the original 9 minute trailer for 'F for Fake' . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNyvg4s3YMA
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