They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

In 2018, Netflix gave film buffs a considerable cause for celebration - the finally completed Orson Welles drama THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, which suffered a long, on again/off again shoot and serious problems with funding.  Posthumous legal battles with Welles' daughter and others.  Even political unrest stalled the legendary director's wildly ambitious, far ahead of its time opus.  The streaming service also produced the inevitable documentary of the story behind it all, THEY'LL LOVE ME WHEN I'M DEAD.  Great title.  You could just hear Orson saying it.

It turned out to (continue to) be true.  But his disciples and admirers were many back in the 1970s when the long exiled auteur decided to return to the U.S.  He found a Hollywood he did not recognize, now dominated by counterculture types (and attitudes) who attempted to ape the European style employed by Antonioni, Godard, and many others.  Not only did Welles set out to create his own (spoofy) version of such films, but also a simultaneous commentary on the sort of filmmakers who create them. Or at least those resigned in the twilight of their career to do so.   And their fans.  And the rabid paparazzi.  Also, a rabid critic.  You can read my review.  THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND never fails to engage with its (for its time) revolutionary methods but also aggravates in its maddeningly narcissistic approach.  Kinda the point, I know.  Despite Welles' objections, his protagonist, a director named Jake Hannaford, is very much a composite of himself.  Past his prime, unable to finish his picture for numerous reasons.

Morgan Neville's documentary rifles through some ancient, valuable footage of Welles being interviewed about his new masterpiece.  He had grand visions.  We also see and hear him on the set; I would've loved more of him actually directing.  The surviving actors and behind the scenes folks offer their recollections.  This includes Peter Bogdanovich, whose tales are quite melancholy, especially as he recalls a hurtful moment as he watched his mentor and Burt Reynolds crack jokes at his expense on TV.  Peter's story is nearly as tragic as Orson's.  He too would experience a long slide of falling out of critical and public favor, remembered for a few great pictures early in his career.

Interestingly, Bogdanovich replaced Rich Little as WIND's Brooks Otterlake, protege of Hannaford.  Several scenes of Little are on view.  Hard to imagine him working with Orson.  That story is interesting and quite deflating.

So THEY'LL LOVE ME WHEN I'M DEAD is really about anyone who spends their life in the shadow of early success, and harsh expectation to dog you the rest of your days.  They don't love you forever, kid.  Also painful is a clip of Welles accepting an award from the American Film Institute, and somewhat desperately all but shilling for the Hollywood elite attendees to kick in some funds so he could finish his movie.  As reported, not a dime was raised.  THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND had already suffered departing financiers, and even embezzlement, but would later also be a victim of the rise of the Ayatollah in Iran (Persian funding, in place earlier on, of course went out the window).

The doc is somewhat dour, but essential for fans.  To lighten things a bit, one of Welles' infamous (and hilarious) outtakes from a Paul Masson commercial is included.