Product Details

• Actors: Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford
• Directors: Orson Welles
• Format: Import, NTSC, Black & White
• Language: English, Spanish
• Subtitles: English, Portuguese, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Continental
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007X6KM2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,491 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Let's not mince words: this is the greatest film of Shakespeare ever made. Admittedly there are only two other films in competition for the honour, both by Welles, but this is the one that makes the whole seemingly daft exercise viable. It is the only Shakespeare film not to feel like a 'Shakespeare' film, with verse spoken by characters who sound like they always speak thus. Never has a Shakespeare film felt so vivid, immediate, real. So many Shakespeare films have been so deadly reverent that the works seem utterly remote in time and sympathy. CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, while remaining true to Welles' great theme of solipsism, and striving for emotional realism, offers a real, plausible place, filled with living characters. It's ironic that it should take an alien technology to make Shakespeare and his time breathe for us.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The search for Welles' late masterpiece just got a little easier, May 12, 2006

By	Eddie Konczal - See all my reviews

The search for Orson Welles' late masterpiece "Chimes at Midnight" just got a little easier. A Brazilian DVD import takes the Welles classic into the digital age and offers an alternative to the out-of-print Arthur Cantor VHS release.

"Chimes at Midnight" is one of the great Shakespearean adaptations and a true 'lost classic'. It's also the last masterpiece that Orson Welles directed in his lifetime, and with 'Citizen Kane,' 'Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Touch of Evil' comprises a quartet of major cinematic works by Welles. Though rarely seen, "Chimes at Midnight" has influenced modern filmmakers. Mel Gibson, for example, admitted the famous "Battle of Shrewesbury" scene influenced his own "Braveheart."

The film is an inventive re-editing and condensation of Shakespeare's plays, spanning from the end of Richard II to the beginning of Henry V. The film shifts the focus from the titular English kings to the character of Jack Falstaff, played by Welles himself in a virtuoso performance. Falstaff's relationship with young Prince Hal (later Henry V) is explored, and uncannily parallels Welles' own experience with the young talents of Hollywood.

There are several great performances, by John Gielgud as Henry IV, Keith Baxter as Hal, Kenneth Branagh look-alike Norman Rodway as Hotspur, Welles regular Jeanne Moreau as Doll Tearsheet, and the great Dame Margaret Rutherford (of "Miss Marple" fame) as Mistress Quickly.

"Chimes at Midnight" can be a jarring experience due to inconsistent film quality, low budget sets and Welles' flair for shock cuts. Once you adapt to the style and limitations, it's a truly rewarding experience. Welles has found a deeply moving story between the lines of Shakespeare's histories.

"Chimes at Midnight" was Welles' final attempt to popularize Shakespeare for the masses. With any luck, this film will eventually reach the wider audiences that Welles failed to achieve in his lifetime.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable!, November 11, 2005

By	John Guzlowski (Danville, VA) - See all my reviews

I first saw this film in 1967, and I remember it as if I just stepped out of the theater. Great films affect us this way and this is a great film. The camera work and the pacing will remind you of Kurosawa and Kubrick, and that in turn will remind you how much these great film makers owe to Welles. Each scene is perfect. The actors don't act, they breathe the life that is in their characters. When Welles swaggers as Falstaff, you believe Falstaff and love him and trust him and distrust him. When he is rejected by Hal at the end of the film, you feel that all the world's sorrow is embedded in Falstaff, this dying old man.

Really, this film finally is as great as Citizen Kane, and perhaps even a little greater because what Welles does here more successfully than he did in Kane is that he is not afraid to show us what happens when a human heart reaches beyond itself and fails to touch another human heart. In Kane, Welles could imagine that tragedy but here in Chimes at Midnight he lives it.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Orson Welles' Best, January 16, 2006

By	Quilmiense (USA/Spain) - See all my reviews

Simply stated: His best movie, without diminishing any of his other great ones that everybody may think about. It is amazing how this has not been released in dvd yet in America.

It has the best scenes of medieval war (or for that matter, anytime war) in film history. Pay special attention to it: it's mesmerizing.

It is Shakespeare's best adaptation to a screen, whether it is more faithful or not I don't know.

It has the added value (in my opinion) of watching the wonderful Jean Moreau and Welles together.

It's just a perfect movie, regardless of being an adaptation of Shakespeare's or not, beautiful, deep, tragic and comic. A work of art.

(Also among my favorites of Welles are: The Stranger & The Lady from Shanghai)