Five Minutes, Mr. Welles
2005 · 31m · Estados Unidos
Directed by Vincent D'Onofrio
Genres: drama, historical
Tones: contemplative, theatrical
England, 1949: a bankrupt Orson Welles has agreed to appear in the spy film The Third Man, but as the fundamental scene is about to be shot, Orson is not happy with Harry Lime's lines.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
D'Onofrio bets everything on a premise that should be insufferable—a petulant Welles mid-shoot—and somehow doesn't give a shit whether you think it works, which is exactly why it does.
A film that understands its place in the shadow of Welles himself: formally precise about the anatomy of creative conflict, shot with the restraint of someone who knows the real Third Man too well to waste a gesture.
The entire short hinges on D'Onofrio's decision to play Welles not as charming or tragic, but genuinely irritating—that one tonal choice reframes every line and makes the whole thing breathe differently than you'd expect.