Top 100 Most Anticipated American Indie Films of 2018: #58. Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind

The Other Side of the Wind

Populated with four Oscar winners (John Huston, Mercedes McCambridge, Edmond O’Brien and Cameron Crowe) and four Oscar nominees (Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Paul Mazursky and Natalie Wood), The Other Side of the Wind has been in the making for over four decades. Orson Welles’ unfinished final film is more than just a curiosity item, and thankfully the film gods, or in this case the Netflix folks, were part of the team that championed cinema. As detailed on Wikipedia, the six-year shoot was plagued by difficulties with production, finance and casting, as well as complex legal problems that led to the negative being impounded.

Shot in a variety of different styles—color, black-and-white, still photography, 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film, this takes place during the 70th birthday party of movie director Jake Hannaford, who is struggling to make a commercial comeback. It opens with Hannaford’s death just after the party, and mostly focuses on the night before his death. We also see extracts of Hannaford’s daring new film-within-a-film, The Other Side of the Wind. As we learn more about Hannaford at his party, the audience realises that he is a far more complex character than he seems, and harbors several big secrets.

Release Date/Prediction: Cannes Film Festival will likely want to program this among their Cannes Classics sidebar with tie wearing Peter Bogdanovich in attendance.