To speak of Orson Welles’ unreleased films is to state the obvious; so many researchers are still sifting through the unfinished films and abandoned projects of this divine creator with feet of clay, who, against all the odds, never stopped living and breathing cinema. Oja Kodar, his partner and collaborator during his last twenty years, has opened up her wondrous personal archive that harbours the director’s unknown works like ghosts, enigmatic Rosebuds that have never been burnt. This documentary reveals a treasure trove of unknown content and unveils rare images of what were merely footnotes in Welles’s biographies. Orson once again becomes the orchestrator, with a free and visionary genius that never ceased, and this documentary unearths the living matter of his imagination; to be or not to be Orson Welles.

Bruno Deloye

For Orson Welles buffs, The One- Man Band will be the most exciting experience in years. It consists almost entirely of Welles-directed material that has never been seen before except by a tiny group of insiders. Here are scenes from almost all the legendary uncompleted Welles films, plus footage of the great filmmaker fielding questions with enthusiastic members of an audience that had just seen The Trial, and clips from never-seen TV appearances. It adds up to a tremendously exciting, but at the same time deeply frustrating, viewing experience.

David Stratton, “Variety”, 23 October 1995