It's All True
by Orson Welles, Bill Krohn, Myron Meisel, Richard Wilson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Francisca Moreira Da Silva, Jeronimo André De Souza, Manuel 'Preto' Pereira Da Silva, Miguel Ferrer, Raimundo 'Tata' Correia LimaDirector: Bill Krohn, Myron Meisel, Orson Welles, Richard Wilson
Brand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Portuguese (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-30
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of It's All True
Movie Review: It's All Wonderful...If You're a Welles Fan
Summary: 5 Stars
"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.
Summary of It's All True
In 1942, Orson Welles was at the top of his game in Hollywood and had, as far as he was concerned, a great future ahead of him. Then Nelson Rockefeller asked him to go to Rio to film the annual carnival as part of a goodwill mission to South America. Long story short, what was meant to be a side project destroyed Welles's promising career. He lost control of what might have been his greatest film, The Magnificent Ambersons, became saddled with an unfair reputation as a money squanderer, and had to beg for B-picture projects (which he turned into superb films) in Hollywood for the rest of the decade (after which he scrambled for years to make movies in Europe, except for a brief return to make, and again lose control over, Touch of Evil). Adding insult to injury, the South American footage--both from the carnival and a couple of narrative episodes Welles wanted to put together in a film called It's All True--disappeared for almost 50 years. Then, as these things happen, much of that footage turned up in a vault and eventually was assembled, long after Welles's death, by several people, among them director Richard Wilson (a Welles producer and ally going back to Mercury Theatre days, and who was present with him in Rio when things went from bad to worse). The film now known as It's All True is a combination of Welles's startling material--including the doomstruck episode called "Four Men on a Raft" (during production of which one of the men drowned)--and interviews with Wilson and other principals who witnessed the situation or can comment on it insightfully. Welles fanatics understand the powerful mystique that surrounds It's All True, and others who have enjoyed his work will certainly find this a gripping and ghostly experience. --Tom KeoghSimilar DVD Movies
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