“Me and Orson Welles” is perhaps among the most heartfelt movies that have ever been made. Orson Welles casts Richard Samuels for the part of Lucius in an interpretation of “Julius Caesar,” and it is the final week of rehearsal. Most of the actors are lusting after the Welles’ assistant, Sonja, who finds Richard’s innocence amusing and leads him on. Richard, returning the infatuation, believes it to be true but then discovers her relationship with Welles is something other than business.
A moment is shown where Welles drops his guard after seeing Richard pull out a copy of the novel “The Magnificent Ambersons”, and Welles, with sadness in his eyes, mentions how it is about how “it all gets taken away.” It is a moving moment because we already know he directs the film years later and subsequently had the film taken from him and recut. He speaks about the loss of the film with such despair that it is almost as if he had lost a family member, or even a child. It moves us to think that self-destruction is already gathering force.
Opening night comes and “Julius Caesar” receives a standing ovation, prompting Welles to question how he will do better next time. In his eyes, however, there is a glint that assures the audience that he is not worried in the least. Richard, meanwhile, just experienced something much larger than himself and in the end, he feels all life seems to be far more ahead of him, but that he cannot help but share in his rapture.