From pinoydvd:
Quoted from Noel Vera: Welles' Chimes of Midnight is perhaps the greatest film I've ever seen.
rse: After reading your reply, I looked at Ebay and found a Spanish-produced DVD version of Chimes at Midnight and immediately bought it. I just saw it and I agree, it's a great film! The ending is poignant and moving, the action scenes masterly done. There's not much plot and the narrative seems fragmented (I'm not much of a Shakespeare's buff), but I guess this film is not about plot, it's more like an experience. Pure film -- and I agree it's one of the greatest films I've ever seen.
Actually if you know the story, it has too much plot. It's a compression of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor, with bits from Holinshed's history. The amazing thing, and I know this because I've seen the annotated screenplay which shows which line comes from which play, is that Welles picked and chose from over sixteen hours of Shakespeare to form his script, and he jumps and joins and skips lines of dialogue confidently and authoritatively to create a seemingly seamless whole.
Unfortunately, the sound is terrible, so it's perfectly possible that a lot of the story is lost in garble.
But the Battle of Shrewsbury--it's awesome, isn't it? I think every battle sequence since, from Apocalypse Now to Braveheart (which tried to copy it) to Lord of the Rings (which also shows influence, particularly that struggle with Orcs that ends Fellowship) pales in comparison.
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