Oja Kodar Movies
- 2006
Croatian father-and-son filmmakers Jakov and Dominik Sedlar explore the genius of Citizen Kane director Orson Welles through the examination of lost footage from unfinished projects and interviews with the friends, family, and colleagues who knew him best in this documentary, which delves deeper into the public persona of the actor, director, writer, and editor than ever before. An extensively researched oral and visual examination of the legendary entertainer, Searching for Orson also includes interviews with such filmmakers as Steven Spielberg and Peter Bogdanovich, exploring just how the mastermind of the notorious 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast continues to influence future generations of filmmakers even decades after his death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Bogdanovich, Orson Welles, (more)
- 1993
This is a film of some historical interest, as it was a patriotic film made for Croatians during the time of their conflicts with Serbia/Yugoslavia in the early '90s. It was so important to the war effort and the morale of the Croatian people that special screenings were arranged in underground shelter which were well-attended even while bombing was going on. Marja (Nada Gacesic-Livakovic) and her teenaged son Darko (Zvonimir Novosel) are forced to flee their home village when the Serbian Cetniks come in, and they settle into life in a town. Marja even finds a job at the hospital, and Darko embarks on his first romance with a girl who has been orphaned by the war. One evening Marja comes home to find that Darko is missing: he has joined the Croat resistance. Later, in a moving scene, she receives his body and travels with it by cart over the countryside to a burial spot. One further note of interest is that this film was directed by Oja Kodar, who was famed director Orson Welles' last companion and a colleage in his filmmaking efforts. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivan Brkic
Over the course of his lifetime, the legendary director Orson Welles (1915-1985) was forced to leave many of his grander movie-making projects unfinished, generally for want of sustained financial backing. Each successive unfinished effort generated buzz throughout the worshipful film community that only served to brighten the luster of his legend. Thus it was only a matter of time before one of his many admirers bought the rights to the fairly extensive footage he shot for his film Don Quixote (begun in 1955) and attempted to edit it into some semblance of a finished film, based on research into Welles' stated intentions and notes. A fuzzy, out-of-focus print of the resulting film was shown at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, and it was immediately deemed as a hashed-up job, a travesty bordering on the sacrilegious, by the assembled deeply interested and knowledgeable viewers. Their criticism focused mainly on issues that ordinary viewers would deem excessively technical, but the gist of it was that this was a very un-Wellesian use of Welles' footage. However, the film does offer viewers a unique opportunity to see some of the master's mature story ideas onscreen. In addition to footage from the film, the movie is also a kind of semi-documentary homage to Welles, showing footage of the famed director at work. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Reiguera, Akim Tamiroff, (more)
- 1989
In Venice Beach, Joe (Randall Brady) has just finished beating up his wife, Rita (Elisabeth Brooks), and goes out to continue his rampage by beating up a transvestite named Angel (Scott Kaske). Meanwhile, Rita has taken refuge with her cousin Sara (Jillian Kesner), who previously had an affair with Joe. Angel shows up at Sara's a little while later. Sara's current lover George (Todd Starks), is getting a little on the side with an opera singer Oja Kodar), who also occasionally boffs her chauffeur, the aforementioned Joe. This film features a lot of uninhibited sex between its seedy characters, but not a lot else goes on. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Orson Welles made his final screen appearance as, appropriately enough, Orson Welles (or "Danny's Friend") in Henry Jaglom's "emotional vérité" comedy Someone to Love. The film begins as filmmaker Danny (Henry Jaglom) prepares to spend the night at his girlfriend Helen (Andrea Marcovicci)'s apartment. Helen has just adjusted to sleeping alone after the breakup of her previous relationship and tells Danny that if he stays with her, she won't be able to go to sleep. Fascinated by the explanation, Danny sends out telegrams to a bunch of his Hollywood friends to meet on Valentine's Day at a Santa Monica theater, the Mayfair, that is about to be torn down to make way for a shopping mall. Danny figures that he will throw a party for his lonely celebrity friends. He also reasons that he could introduce his brother, real estate developer Mickey (Michael Emil, Jaglom's real-life brother), to some romantic companions. The party would also be a handy way to get some film footage. The day of the party, Danny's friends arrive --a famous movie star (Sally Kellerman); a pop singer named Blue (Stephen Bishop); a jazz pianist (David Frishberg); a sophisticated continental woman named Yelena (Oja Kodar); and, bringing up the rear and ensconced in the back of the theater, Danny's Friend (Orson Welles). With his camera crew in tow, Danny takes to filming his guests as they answer questions about love and loneliness. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Henry Jaglom, (more)
Nikola Tesla (here played by Petar Bozovic) was a famous 19th century Yugoslavian inventor. The film recounts Tesla's development of the alternating electric current, first under the dictatorial thumb of Thomas Edison (Dennis Patrick), then on his own. Tesla develops a harmonious working relationship with George Westinghouse (Strother Martin), who indulges the inventor his eccentricities and gives him the credit he deserves, something the tyrannical Edison refused to do. Orson Welles appears briefly as J. P. Morgan in this Yugoslavian biopic, originally released as Tajna Nikole Tesle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Strother Martin, (more)
The final directorial project the legendary Orson Welles completed during his lifetime, F for Fake is less a documentary than an example of cinematic free association on the topic of trickery. Much of the film is in fact drawn from other sources, most notably an unfinished documentary by Francois Reichenbach on the notorious Elmyr de Hory, whose extremely skillful forgeries of famous paintings caused scandals amongst art collectors and experts. In an additional bit of irony, de Hory's interviewer is author Clifford Irving, who became infamous due to a forgery of his own: a falsified autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles openly re-edits and manipulates this footage, using it as a spine for his own commentary, arguing that there is an extremely close relationship between art and lying, and citing instances from his own career to prove the point. Through a combination of documentary and staged footage, Welles attempts to illustrate the artifice behind all filmmaking, even that of a supposedly non-fiction variety. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, (more)
