"It's pretty, but is it Art?"

F for Fake is an odd creation, but it's both proud and uniquely made. Whenever you question if this is real or fake while watching it, Orson Welles, like all great magicians, hypnotises us through the screen.

There were many fantastic segments and scenes in this, but the Chartres Cathedral segment stuck with me the most. It had to do with Orson Welles's words, cinematic voice, and the lack of music or sound made for an enriching experience.

F for Fake is one of the best cinematic essays ever. Nobody did it like Orson Welles.

A dissertation on liars, cheats, counterfeiters and forgers by Orson Welles that never settles on a subject, shooting style, genre or personality. Is it a documentary, a fantasy, a historical drama or an art film? Welles employs a crazed guerrilla documentary style, splicing half-conversations with notorious scammers on top of one another while concentrating on awkward close-ups, unflattering angles and incomplete thoughts. Orson handles most of the narration himself from a seat at the editing table, apparently in the process of chaotically piecing the final product together.

It's a manic blend of jumbled thoughts that seems like something thrown together on a whim, after filming every instant of a lavish European vacation and poring over the footage for its most quizzical moments. For what it's worth, I could watch Orson carry on conversation with nobodies for hours at a time, and on the few occasions the film delivers just that, it reaches a certain peak. If Welles could've let this story tell itself without overproducing every instant, and later forcing himself into unnecessary dramatizations, it would have had my rapt attention. Instead, the second half nearly put me to sleep. A solid concept that's been overcomplicated and spoiled.

I think is so fitting that the man that created what is deemed as the most important american film also gave us a small personal film that is truly a masterpiece.

A creation based on the creation of others. Lies told as truth and truth told as lies. F for Fake is a documentary but not really. It is an illusion, but not really. There is truth here but also potent lies. It is a movie about forgery and a movie about the best forgery of all: film. It is a puzzle that does not need to be solved.

It is also a very personal reflection for Welles but also a grand statement about how potent lies can become potent truths (even tough they are not meant to last: but alas, isn't life just like that).