Let’s Get Real

F for Fake was an interesting film that makes the viewers think about themselves and society. The film talks about numerous personalities throughout its 89 minute run time, which goes to show how fast paced the film was, such as de Hory, Irving, Welles, Hughes and Kodar, but the person that caught my attention while viewing the film was the art forger, Elmyr de Hory. Elmyr is a famous, or maybe a more fitting description would be infamous, personality in the art world because of how many famous paintings he has copied or forged and sold to different art connoisseurs and even museums. The story of Elmyr and the art world piqued my interest because it made me reflect on different things such as how do we know when something is real and fake. In the film, Welles acts as sort of the narrator during the whole thing, and he is also the one that presents the audience with numerous deep questions about art, life, society, and many more. One of the questions that Welles brings up is how the art dealers were buying forged or fake art works when they are supposed to be the experts on this. This question is just one of many that resonated with me and made me think about how these were questions that are so simple, yet no one really brings them up. How the film was able to bring up really simple yet still very profound and meaningful questions about different things in people’s lives is what I think made me appreciate the movie a lot. All in all, I thought that the movie F for Fake was a very effective commentary not just on the art world, but in our society as a whole. The movie analyzed and questioned why certain things happen in our life and how it affects how we understand the world we live in. Although I would most probably not watch this film again because of how a big chunk of the film is just listening to someone talk without anything exciting or eye-catching happening, I still think that it is an interesting film especially for people who are into deep, philosophical type of questions. I think after watching this film, it would be impossible not to question your personal beliefs about certain topics because it brings to light a lot of different perspectives that most people do not take into account because there is a public norm or belief that is already established within society. Questioning what we know is not a bad thing at all because in order to grow as people, we must question everything around us in order to better understand the world we live in. If a film with a premise that is as simple as this can leave the audience reflecting on their lives and how the world they live in works, then I think everyone should watch this film at least once in their lifetime. They will surely not regret it even one bit.