F for Fake (1973) on Netflix
PG19731h 29mDocumentary
A narrator promises an hour of facts. Elmyr de Hory sold forged paintings to museums and collectors, and Clifford Irving wrote de Hory's biography and a purported memoir of Howard Hughes.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.7/1019,948 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
A narrator performs magic tricks for children and promises that what follows will be factual. He turns to Elmyr de Hory, who made forgeries of paintings by Picasso and Matisse and sold them to museums and collectors as genuine. De Hory hosts a dinner at his house in Ibiza and is joined by Clifford Irving, who had written a biography of him. Irving had also written what was presented as an authorized memoir of Howard Hughes. The narrator admits deceptions of his own, including a lie that won him an acting job in Ireland.
Cast
- Elmyr de Horyas Himself
- Edith Irvingas Herself
- David Walshas Himself
- Richard Drewettas Self
Show all 20 cast
- Alexander Wellesas Special Participant (as Sasa Devcic)
- Julio Palinkasas Self
- Christian Odassoas Self
- François Reichenbachas Himself - Special Participant
- Richard Drewittas Himself - Associate Producer (as Richard Drewett)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about F for Fake (1973)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- When it emerged that Clifford Irving had faked an authorized biography of Howard Hughes, Welles shot more footage and wove it into F for Fake, which he was finishing from François Reichenbach's documentary footage.
SPOILER
Art forger Elmyr de Hory, the subject of Welles's film, had recently served a two-month Spanish prison sentence for homosexuality and consorting with criminals; he killed himself two years after the film's release, on hearing Spain would hand him to the French authorities.SPOILER
Oja Kodar claims the closing Picasso-forgery story as her own idea, and also claims the opening sequence — shots of her walking streets while rubbernecking men stare — saying her feminism inspired it; Welles narrates the footage was shot for an unrelated production.- The apparent excerpts from Welles's War of the Worlds broadcast in the film are fabrications, including a scene in which President Roosevelt meets the Martian invaders — something that did not happen in the original broadcast.
