The first trailer forThe Other Side of the Wind, Orson Welles famed final movie that was never completed, has arrived online. Last year, we got word that producer Frank Marshall andNetflixhard partnered up to finish what was started all of those years ago, with the streaming service providing the money and resources needed to actually finish the movie in an attempt to bring Welles' vision to life. Now, audiences the world over are going to have the chance to see it. It’s not at all a stretch to say this trailer is unearthing a significant piece of cinema history.
This very much looks like something lost to time and strangely feels a bit modern. We see that this is a movie about the making of a movie, coincidentally titledThe Other Side of the Wind. It probably helps that Netflix cut together a very modern-style trailer for Wells’s final epic when it comes to getting your average moviegoer/streamer on board. However, cinephiles need far less convincing when it comes to watchingThe Other Side o the Windwhen it arrives. This has been nearly half-a-century in the making.
The story goes like this: In 1970, legendary directorOrson Welles, the man behindCitizen Kane, easily one of the greatest movies ever made, began filming what would ultimately be his final movie with a cast of Hollywood luminaries including the also legendary John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg and Welles' partner during his later years, Oja Kodar. Beset by financial issues, the production ultimately stretched years and gained notoriety, never to be completed or released. More than a thousand reels of film negatives were left sitting in a Paris vault until March of 2017. Producers Frank Marshall, who served as Welles’s production manager during his initial shooting, and Filip Jan Rymsza spearheaded efforts to have the movie completed after over 40 years. Netflix stepped up to the plate and now, the movie is done.
The Other Side of the Windtells the story ofgrizzled director J.J. “Jake” Hannaford(John Huston), who returns to Los Angeles after years in self-exile in Europe with plans to complete work on his own innovative comeback movie. Both a satire of the classic studio system and the New Hollywood that was shaking things up, Welles’s last artistic testament is a fascinating time capsule of a now-distant era in moviemaking as well as the long-awaited “new” work from an indisputable master.
