Chimes at Midnight (1966)
(Orson Welles, Spain 1966, 116 min., DCP)
Shakespeare. On par with the mastery of Citizen Kane in terms of both the innovative narrative construction and the compelling performances of its talented cast (including Welles, Jeanne Moreau, John Gielgud, and Keith Baxter), Chimes is the realization of its director’s dream to bring five Shakespearean tales together in one film. The result is staggering. The film was also known as Falstaff, deservedly so because this is his (and Welles’s) film. Falstaff, a bumbling, lovable, bloated oaf, is a complex character whose cowardice and avarice disturb while his good humor warms. The filmmaking is Welles at his apex; the cutting of the battle scenes is as intense as any in cinema’s history.