107
by thelonelymastodronus_Archive
When I first saw it a few weeks ago, I didn't think The Other Side of the Wind was all that great; it was an uneven, radiant, phantasmic patchwork of a love letter to / effigy of the old guard and 70s Hollywood as well as European arthouse. But I saw it again today and, excepting the rough edges (there are still a couple of scenes with Rich Little that I guess they didn't get around to shooting with Peter Bogdanovich and the allusions to phallic severance in the film within the film were a bit heavy handed, although that's probably the point?), I think what came out of it is pretty much flawless, which is pretty stunning given how much of a colossal fuck-up the whole process of getting it made was. The dialogue and narration are surprisingly memorable, and John Huston is fantastic, as were all the other actors, even Bogdanovich, who I find mildly annoying most of the time, and the editing is incredible. It's pretty much as if a film was made by Robert Downey Sr. by way of Cassavetes, by way of Lumet.A classic exercise in art imitates life imitates art.