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THE ART OF THE INCOMPLETE
Ted Hope forwarded this link to a fantastic list of “Top 10 Great Movies That Were Never Finished” over at List Universe. Of course, the term “great” is one of almost philosophical speculation as opposed to qualitative judgement. How can a film be great if it was never completed and viewed by an audience? Looking at it from another way, though, films create memories and desires in us long after we view them, and sometimes a film that is wished for yet remains an impossible object exerts a stronger pull on us than one that is released and quickly disappears from our thoughts.
With that in mind, below is a clip from the list’s number 2 selection, Orson Welles’s The Other Side of the Wind. From the piece:
Anyone who is a film buff would know that an Orson Welles film would have to be somewhere on this list. This Welles film was to star John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich and Dennis Hopper. Some believe that because this film was filled with so much sex and violence it was an attempt to revive Welles career. Apparently 96% of the film was complete but financial problems prevented it from being finished. Showtime cable network had guaranteed the money to complete the film, but a lawsuit by Welles’ daughter caused Showtime to withdraw its funding. In April 2007 Bogdanovich said in a press report that a deal was made to complete the movie. His goal was to release the film in 2008 but Bogdanovich recently said there is still over a year’s worth of work to be done.
