They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead is an engrossing and multifaceted documentary film that debuted in 2018 on Netflix, offering an insightful exploration into the world of iconic American filmmaker Orson Welles. Enriched with a cast including renowned actors and personalities such as Alan Cumming as the narrator, Peter Bogdanovich, and Oja Kodar, the film presents a compelling recount of Welles' cinematic journey as he attempted his final shot at cinematic glory.

Directed by critically acclaimed documentarian Morgan Neville, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead delves into the documented history of Orson Welles's unfinished masterpiece, The Other Side of the Wind, which the maverick director attempted to create in the final years of his life. Providing exceptional insight into Welles' vision and mission, the film blends footage from the incomplete work with conversations, interviews, and expertly sourced archival footage.

Alan Cumming’s voice-over as the narrator lends enough gravitas to the film, becoming a conduit to Welles's thoughts, dilemmas, and eccentricities. His catchwords serve as a rhythm, guiding viewers through the muddled yet fascinating psychological landscape of Welles and his prolific career, which was marked with audacious creations and creative tumult.

Featuring prominently in the documentary is Peter Bogdanovich, one of Welles’s close friends and ardent admirers, director and actor himself. Bogdanovich provides heartfelt insight into Welles' character and his genius, adding depth to his portrayal. He speaks not just as an intellectual observer, but also as a colleague and friend who shared a unique bond with Welles. His candid recollections add the element of personal touch and warmth to the depiction of a man often seen as aloof and enigmatic.

Oja Kodar, Welles' longtime partner and collaborator, is also an important part of this narrative. As a significant part of Welles' life and his unfinished masterpiece, Kodar shares her personal experiences and memories of Welles. Her portrayal, full of heart and grief, represents Welles as a man, as a companion, further enhancing the emotional density of the documentary.

While the film delves into the complex journey of Welles' last project, it also works as a larger narrative of Welles’ career itself, dissecting the tumultuous relationship he had with the Hollywood industry. Mercurial, bohemian, and rebellious, Welles often found himself at odds with systemic norms of the filmmaking business, a reality that Neville deftly portrays in his work.

Through the telling of Welles's tumultuous journey with The Other Side of the Wind, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead poses a compelling case on the nature of art itself. It looks at the struggle of creating art and the cost artists often pay in the pursuit of perfection. It delves into the psychological toll a creative process takes on an artist and highlights the challenges faced by Welles—the loneliness, the desperation, and the perpetual striving for the amorphous entity called 'Great Art.'

Various footage clips and photographs from different stages of Welles' life and career, along with the interviews of those who knew him closely, make They'll Love Me When I'm Dead an engrossing, raw, and intense cinematic journey. The documentary succeeds in creating a three-dimensional portrait of a man often hidden behind the celebrity veneer of 'Orson Welles,' presenting to the viewers an artful, poignant, and intimate look into his world.

More than a simple making-of documentary, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead is a testament to the genius that was Orson Welles. It is a captivating tribute that doesn’t shy away from reflecting the inherent contradictions and complexities of a mind that was years ahead of its time.

In They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, audiences are invited on a journey of reflection, challenge, and revelation, exploring the shadowy territories of a great artist's restless mind, his unfinished masterwork, and the fascinatingly convoluted process of creation. Simultaneously tragic, inspiring, and thought-provoking, this film offers an unforgettable glimpse into the life and struggles of one of cinema's brightest, yet often misunderstood luminaries. In the grandest tradition of Orson Welles, the film leaves one both illuminated and intrigued, underlining an essential truth - the act of creation can be just as compelling as the creation itself.