Chimes At Midnight - Falstaff [Import, All Regions]
by Orson Welles
![Chimes At Midnight - Falstaff [Import, All Regions]](/images/Chimes-At-Midnight-Falstaff-Import-All-Regions-B0007X6KM2-L.jpg)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, Orson WellesDirector: Orson Welles
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); Portuguese (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Import, NTSC
Running Time: 105 minutes
Published: 1967
Studio: Continental, Brazil
Product features:
- Chimes At Midnight DVD
- Campanadas a medianoche
- Falstaff
Movie Reviews of Chimes At Midnight - Falstaff [Import, All Regions]
Movie Review: Perhaps the definition of a little-seen masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
With the aide of a middleman, and a tip from the great Roger Ebert, I recently acquired a Brazilian DVD of Orson Welles' "The Chimes at Midnight". One can't help but applaud the foreign distributor for making this film available, even marginally, for otherwise I would have had no opportunity at all to see it.
One of the most obscure products of Welles post-Hollywood films made on lunch money and pocketfuls of change, "Chimes" has spent the last forty years as a critically adored, but largely unseen masterpiece. Welles compresses most of the first half of the 'War of the Roses' cycle, largely consisting of "Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2", and a handful of scenes and lines from "Henry V" (many descriptions of the film also include "The Merry Wives of Windsor", but I can't identify any part of the film from that play). The political aspects of the Henry IV plays are largely eliminated, and the remainder exist mostly to give some justification to the larger plot (and the war); the focus is, as the alternate title of "Falstaff" suggests, primarily on valiant Sir John, played by Welles himself.
Aside from Welles, the notable parts are filled by the late Sir John Gielgud (as King Henry IV), Keith Baxter (as Prince Hal/Henry V), Margaret Rutherford (Mistress Quickly), and Jeanne Moreau (Doll Tearsheet). It's surprising to see big Bard actors like Gielgud participating in a production like this, but doubtless they did it as favours to Welles, who, from the late 40s until his death was sort of like Ed Wood, if Ed Wood made good movies. Given the incredibly choppy production history, it's amazing that the film isn't totally unwatchable; instead, it's great. In fact, aside from the sometimes glaring sound synchronization problems, I'd venture to say that the minuscule budget isn't really noticeable: the Battle of the Shrewsbury is excellent, and you can clearly see its influence on Branagh's Agincourt and Gibson's Stirling.
Harold Bloom once called Falstaff the equal to Hamlet, although Falstaff arguably suffers because he, more than Hamlet, needs to be seen performed to be truly understood, while Hamlet can be more thoroughly comprehended just by reading his dialogue. I've always been fascinated by the disconnect that exists between the "Henry IV" plays and "Henry V" in regards to the character of Hal. Whatever his good qualities, the Prince's role in the first two is that of a conniving Machiavel who uses a band of jovial rogues to advance his own reputation, while in "Henry V" he has taken on the role of crusading hero (although Shakespeare's writing choices sometimes subvert his heroism). In many ways, it's surprising that audiences, in any age, wanted to see anything more of the man that destroyed poor Jack Falstaff.
Summary of Chimes At Midnight - Falstaff [Import, All Regions]
Brazilian Pressing DVD . All Regions NTSC, Sound in English with Optional Portuguese subtitles .~~~~Sir John Falstaff is the hero in this compilation of extracts from Shakespeare's 'Henry IV' and other plays, made into a connected story of Falstaff's career as young Prince Hal's drinking companion. The massive knight roisters with and without the prince, philosophizes comically, goes to war (in his own fashion), and meets his final disappointment, set in a real-looking late-medieval EnglandSimilar DVD Movies
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