Is It Possible to Escape From Solitude
A philosophical question from the great Orson Welles
I recently watched Orson Welles’ final film, The Other Side of the Wind on Netflix. It is an intricate film combining two movies into one. The first, a story of J.J. Hanaford’s last day of life. Hanaford is a famous director, played by long-time Wells friend John Houston, who is hosting a screening party for his latest film. And the second story is the film that he is screening for an eclectic audience.
Throughout the film, which took almost 40 years to complete, we meet many of the people associated with the director and the production of this picture. Most of whom had been betrayed in one way or another by Hanaford. At the end of the film, one is left to ponder the value of friends. Is it to be collaborators in our accomplishments, or are the people in our lives only there to observe, transact with, and offer opinions of what they see?
In the complimentary documentary of this film, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, Wells poses that philosophical question in another way- which is…
