It's All True

One of Welles' lesser viewed projects, and one of his best. It's fascinating to see the direction he was heading into with this film. It's the biggest travesty in motion pictures that the greatest director was never able to fully realize his vision with the exception of Kane. A must see for fans....

It's funny, reading these reviews no one has commented on the obvious. I live in Europe and was treated to a documentary on RKO pictures that featured commentary on Welles and gave true insite on the making of this film. Included was a letter sent to an RKO exec by one of Welles's film crew, that acted as a spy for the Studio. The letter basically described the making of the film as Welles "hanging out in Nigger neighborhoods, filming a bunch of Jigaboos jumping up and down". The Brazilian government objected to the film because it offered the outside world a glimpse of the real demographic "warts and all"(70% of the population was of African heritage), the racism and poverty that existed in spite of a desire to depict and exploit the "exotic beauty" of our South American neighbors.

Welles was ahead of his time and he no doubt paid the price for it in a world that even today "Just can't handle the truth".

"It's All True" is a well put together film of Orson Welles' attempt in 1942 to make a three-part documentary in South America.

The film we see includes revealing interviews of Welles' assistants and the people of Brazil who helped him in making his documentary. It also includes two separate bits from Welles himself, one of them is clearly from the BBC documentary "With Orson Welles, A Life in Film". The other one was filmed apparently in the late 40's or early 50's and is very interesting as Welles is leaning forward into the camera and telling the story of a "witch doctor" who was dissapointed to say the least when he was told the film would not be completed.

"It's All True" would've been the name of Welles' documentary had he been able to finish it. Of the parts that he did manage to get to camera;

- "My Friend Bunito", the story of a young Mexican boy and his pet calf. One scene was filmed and edited together where the calf is taken to an annual blessing of the animals. The footage is quite striking and very well made.

- "The Carnival in Brazil", is a collection of black & white footage and technicolor (one of Welles' few color efforts) of the annual carnival. The technicolor footage was shot on a large stage, but none of this was edited together in any real fashion and I wonder if Welles himself knew exactly how all the pieces would fit together (he had no script).

- "Four Men on a Raft", is the only completed version, though there is no soundtrack. The footage (we are told) was edited together as close to Welles' vision as they could (apparently, Welles didn't leave behind any detailed script, but it probably is close to what he wanted). The music that is added does not seem to fit very well with the film, but then again, the "love story" that Welles shot is kind of odd and almost old fashioned for his style. Still, it's apparent that Welles had a great love for these people and managed to get some fine performances from them. And even though it was shot on an old-style camera for the time, the footage is particularly good and very well made.

We'll never know of course how well the final version of Welles' vision would be, but it certainly was a crime that it never was completed.

If you are a fan of Orson Welles' work, you owe it to yourself to buy this movie.

"It's All True" often receives minor attention in most histories of Orson Welles, probably because nobody had ever seen it. While Welles was in South America filming this documentary, RKO Pictures was busy destroying The Magnificant Ambersons, which had the signs of becoming greater than even Citizen Kane. This video (a documentary about the documentary) reminded me that "It's All True" had the possiblity of being greater still. Welles established a true contection with the people of South America, and to hear their love and admiration for this foriegn filmmaker only reinforces the tragedy of Welles' career. The film would probably have become a national treasure in Brazil, had Welles been allowed to finish it.

Aside from various clips of no particular order, there exists an entire sequence from the original, telling the story of an epic journey of 4 fisherman traveling half-way around the continent in a simple boat. The sequence lacks a soundtrack, and thus is missing the punch of other good Welles material. Orson always used audio with equal mastery as his visual style, and in this sequence you can see just how rough one was without the other. Still worth of a purchase.

Orson Welles is, was and will always be one of the greatest of all filmakers. You can't really argue with that.

The chance to see lost footage from any of his unfinished projects is always welcome, but this is something of a missed opportunity I'm afraid.

Richly illustrated with interviews and unique footage, the effort and research cannot be faulted, but frequently beautiful images flick by without any explanation whilst pointless facts are dealt in detail.

The cardinal sin here are the "recuts" of the virtually complete sections of It's All True. The "new" musical scores are obstrusive and syrupy - very "hollywood". They sit uncomfortably with the footage, and are NOT Welles style.

It's not the actual scores but the orchestration which seems so out of place. Instead of drawing you into the sequences it dilutes the impact.

It's a real shame, as you can see the influence such sequences had on later Welles pictures, "The Lady From Shanghai" - one of my favourite films - for example. After such a well researched build up it's real let down to see the work damaged in this way. Why the filmakers couldn't have used original recordings from the time film was made - and by the artists featured - is a mystery.

It's still well worth seeing - but, as I've already said, is a missed opportunity.