The storied career of Orson Welles is one that merits multiple viewing of his films beyond 1935's still-amazing "Citizen Kane." The actor-writer-director may have been both the first multi-hyphenate and auteur. His visual mark still resonates loudly in films today.
However, Welles was a legend who was often misunderstood. Morgan Neville ("Won't You Be My Neighbor") chose to document the arduous journey of Welles' final film, "The Other Side of The Wind."
Less of a straight documentary and more of a meditation on Welles as a true artist, Neville builds a visually sumptuous tale of betrayal, abandonment, and even intrigue from the circuitous path of Welles’ pursuit of this dream film from 1969 until his death in 1985.
Using actual footage from the film (it too is showing on Netflix) and Welles' other works, his narrative in “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead” is riveting.
However, when Neville focuses on present-day interviews – all shot with intrusive headphones, microphones from subverted angles – Neville draws volumes from the myriad actors, directors, friends, producers and collaborators that Welles attracted. In the end, what once resembled a vanity project for a great director to finally top himself, becomes a documentary itself about the film industry how it changes seasons and how we must add the facet of constant reinvention to the definition of auteur.
