Orson Welles

ORSON WELLES: THE ONE-MAN BAND is a fascinating glimpse at this extraordinary man's final years - made with the cooperation of Oja Kodar, Welles' longtime companion, to whom he bequeathed a wealth of unedited films and fragments when he died in 1985. Granted exclusive access to Welles' heretofore unseen archives - and drawing from almost two tons of film cans containing fragments, shorts, project ideas, and sketches - the filmmakers are led by Kodar through the rich but unfulfilled Welles legacy. Far from being the gloomy megalomaniac that Hollywood has sometimes branded him, Welles emerges here a protean creator, at times vulnerable and lonely, but always unshakeably optimistic and unfailingly innovative.

Among the many works included are:

• A hilarious trailer for F FOR FAKE
• Excerpts from THE DEEP, a thriller set in the Pacific Ocean, starring Jeanne Moreau and Laurence Harvey
• SWINGING LONDON, a wacky sketch featuring Welles in drag as a housewife!
• A clip from a one-man show of MOBY DICK, with Welles playing all parts sans makeup or costume
• Footage of a charming and self-deprecating Welles meeting with American students after a screening of THE TRIAL ("I use my own work to subsidize my work; in other words, I am crazy!")
• Highlights from THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, the most prestigious production of Welles' later years: it's the story of an aging, egotistical director (played by John Huston) who rails against Hollywood. Shot in a jumpy, frenetic style, it's unlike anything Welles had done before.

At 90 minutes long, it is a bit of a stretch for a single session internet viewing, but the unreleased documentary One Man Band is well worth a look, for Orson Welles the out-sized personality, for glimpses into the strange, indulgent, and ultimately interesting projects that Welles undertook but never quite finished, and mostly for the manic intensity that Welles projects through every action. Clearly a genius, if a bit touched. Thanks to RM for the forward.

Also, the Orson Welles web resource looks like it could be a good bit of fun, as well.

Mumblecore

Mumblecore is apparently the name given to a small current of indie film-making, at least according to the New York Times. While the methods of mumblecore appeal to me - low-budget, DV-filming, independent, almost peer-to-peer distribution - what substantive elements seem to characterize these films, either in terms of style or content, seem less interesting. From the Times article:

More a loose collective or even a state of mind than an actual aesthetic movement, mumblecore concerns itself with the mundane vacillations of postcollegiate existence. It can seem like these movies, which star nonprofessional actors and feature quasi-improvised dialogue, seldom deal with matters more pressing than whether to return a phone call. When the heroine of “Funny Ha Ha” (2002), the film that kicked off the mumblecore wave, writes out a to-do list, the items include “Learn to play chess?” and “Fitness initiative!!”

But what these films understand all too well is that the tentative drift of the in-between years masks quietly seismic shifts that are apparent only in hindsight. Mumblecore narratives hinge less on plot points than on the tipping points in interpersonal relationships. A favorite setting is the party that goes subtly but disastrously astray. Events are often set in motion by an impulsive, ill-judged act of intimacy.

Artists who mine life’s minutiae are by no means new, but mumblecore bespeaks a true 21st-century sensibility, reflective of MySpace-like social networks and the voyeurism and intimacy of YouTube. It also signals a paradigm shift in how movies are made and how they find an audience. “This is the first time, mostly because of technology, that someone like me can go out and make a film with no money and no connections,” said Aaron Katz, whose movies “Dance Party USA” and “Quiet City” will be shown as part of a 10-film mumblecore series at the IFC Center that begins Wednesday and continues through Sept. 4.