He felt the stinging backhand of Hollywood as harshly as anyone.
Welles was just 25 when he madeCitizen Kane, thegreatest directorial debut of all time.
So it just banished him.
Credit: José María Castellví/Netflix
Obviously, it wasnt quite as simple as that.
Welles could be difficult and demanding and self-sabotaging his own worst enemy.
He called itThe Other Side of the Wind.
To some degree, heisHannaford.
Its a bitter diarists parlor trick captured on celluloid.
Its a lot of story and not enough of one.
And there are some big, profound ideas buried within all the eye candy and frenetic, rat-a-tat editing.
But you have to rummage through unruly thickets of abstraction to find them.
The films youthful energy and daredevil experimentation are staggering, even if it never quite comes off.
Its an easier film to admire than to love.
That is, when they werent trying to unravel a knot of rights issues that surrounded the film.
If theres an overarching sentiment to Nevilles documentary, its Welles feelings of hurt and betrayal.
Four decades afterCitizen Kane, his earliest and greatest cinematic success was still a millstone around his neck.
An impossible standard to be held to.
Nevilles film includes never-before-seen archival footage of Welles shootingThe Other Side of the Windin true DIY style.
Narrated by Alan Cumming, its at turns playful and sad.
But even in its melancholy, its also inspiring.
Welles refused to give up, confident that another great act lay around the next bend in the road.
That perhaps he felt if he finished it, hed die.
I dont know if I buy that argument.
But it certainly is intriguing.
Did he find more nobility and joy in the process of filmmaking than the finished product?
The Other Side of the Wind:B
Theyll Love Me When Im Dead:A
More movie reviews:
