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| Scene from The Other Side of the Wind |
Even in death, it seemed like director Orson Welles couldn't catch a break. His directorial debut, the highly acclaimed Citizen Kane, was mired in controversy and protest from its early release - and his later films would only continue to be pushed through development hell and often funded in less conventional manners, whether they be taking bit parts in inferior works like Transformers: The Movie, or even editing adult films. Still, Welles was a man of passion and it shows in his final film, the incomplete The Other Side of the Wind which was incomplete at the time of death and once again mired in lawsuits that prolonged its release by 30+ years. Thanks to Netflix, it's finally here and it's a mirage of a filmmaker who continued to push boundaries, finding the limits of film to be endless and in the process making avant garde art. This final film, actually an attempt to restore good graces with the Hollywood studio system, is probably his most challenging and unique in a career full of challenging and unique projects. It's why it seems like an odd fit for Netflix, even if it's one of the greatest puzzles of 2018.
