Chimes at Midnight

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Isa B Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight) is on a shortlist of greatest films ever made. It is the greatest Shakespearean adaptation in existence. The poor dubbing even somehow adds to the film's greatness. It's as if someone back in the 1400s had a cinema camera and filmed it. Certain elements of the film which might be considered technical flaws in another film are assets to Chimes at Midnight. Orson Welles was born to play Falstaff. I highly recommend! 100/100 🏆 Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/05/24 Full Review Alec B Welles is obviously a great Falstaff but not in the ways you'd expect. His bold performance consistently defies conventional takes on the character. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review Irene M I watched it when really tired and fell asleep :( Essentially its a lot of Shakespearean dialogue outside of a play. Good to see Orson Welles. the battle scene was gruesome. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/04/23 Full Review George S Welles twistedly demonstrating a version of himself and Gielgud glibly delivering presumably the best Shakespeare monologue in cinema history Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Superlatively photographed and well-acted version of Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, concentrating on the changing relationship between Falstaff and Hal, as the responsibilities of kingship force a cooling of their hedonistic games. The final cold rebuttal and Falstaff's subsequent death are especially moving. A very fine adaptation by Welles. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member In as brilliant an adaptation of Shakespeare as has graced the screen, Welles meticulously extrapolates from several of the bard's great works and pieces together an astonishingly original masterpiece that is somehow highly evocative of Welles while maintaining the utmost fidelity to the source material. That Welles was able to even complete this ambitious work in the midst of so many crippling limitations is incredible; that it somehow proves so consummately constructed is nearly miraculous. The famous Battle of Shrewsbury sequence is a particularly jaw-dropping accomplishment, in that it offers a painstaking spectacle of medieval warfare that is as elaborate, convincing, and breathtaking as any that this viewer has ever seen. The mise-en-scene envelops us in as authentic an evocation of Shakespearean mirth and tragedy as could ever be hoped for, all the while granting Welles the opportunity to shine in a role that he was truly born to play. Watch, relish, and then gleefully emote over the days that ye have seen! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Chimes at Midnight

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