Orson Welles led a storied life that has been the subject of many documentaries and films. Born 100 years ago this May, Welles revolutionised cinema, theatre and storytelling with his bold and uncompromising work. His fall from grace has been the stuff of legends, going from Citizen Kane to commercials about fishsticks. Chuck Workman's documentary focuses on no one particular phase in Welles' career, rather it simply charts it in chronological order.
Using various interviews, both archive and recent, with the likes of Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin and Charlton Heston as well as noted critics and academics, director Chuck Workman cleverly uses footage from interviews Welles took part in throughout his life to either rebuff or acknowledge the interviewee's views. It's a clever enough device, obviously as Welles is unable to challenge their stance from beyond the grave. Although, having said, it sounds like a Wellesian film, doesn't it? Long-dead genius director speaks through the medium of film to answer his critics.
Anyway, Magician is quite perfunctory in how it handles its subject matter. Each and every interview gives all sorts of plaudits to his work, how he was a genius, how he changed everything, how he was a trailblazer. Yet, very few and almost no interview follows his cult of personality, his frequent alcoholism or why his weight became such an issue in his later life. Granted, the film isn't so much an exploration of Welles' so much as its an exploration of his work.
But even on this, Magician falters because it's so wrapped up with trying to blast through his filmography that it doesn't linger too long on any one particular point. For fans of Welles, it's another documentary to add to the list that doesn't reveal any new insight into the man. Rather, it simply discusses his work in his broad strokes. Those who have a passing interest in his work will enjoy this as introduces other works they may not be familiar with.