Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Discussions
Movie Clips
DVDs
Labels
- As You Like It (1)
- Branagh (9)
- Chimes at Midnight (3)
- Discussions (14)
- Film Clips (13)
- Hamlet (5)
- Henry IV Part One (3)
- Henry IV Part Two (3)
- Henry V (5)
- King John (1)
- King Lear (2)
- Macbeth (1)
- McKellen (3)
- Merchant of Venice (5)
- Midsummer Night's Dream (4)
- Much Ado About Nothing (2)
- News (5)
- Observations (3)
- Olivier (7)
- Othello (3)
- parallels (1)
- Resources (16)
- Richard III (9)
- Romeo and Juliet (2)
- Summaries (1)
- Taymor (4)
- Tempest (1)
- Titus Andronicus (3)
- Twelfth Night (2)
- Welles (5)
- Zeffirelli (1)
Search
Contact
Subscribe
Posts
Comments
Line Numbers
Fair Use
18 comments:
Prince Hal is a unique character because he is the only one that can move between the worlds of tavern, court and battlefield with ease. This makes him a very dynamic character and apt to change and develop into something much more than the other characters. By the end of the movie, the bond between Falstaff and Prince Hal irreversibly depletes. Falstaff represents a vice, a comic or clever character, who temps Prince Hal while others, like the King, try and convince him not to fall astray. Hal is his prey in the movie and is torn between allegiances to Flagstaff and his father. This could also be symbolic of the loyalty Prince Hal has for both the tavern and the court. Ultimately, Prince Hal chooses the crown over Falstaff.
I think Welles exerted Falstaff’s presence in the distance during Prince Hal’s first soliloquy as a means for visual self-reflection and foreshadowing (when Hal as King rejects Falstaff and denies their relationship).
I find it stange that such an old man represents Prince Hals need to grow up. Falstaff is a carachter that represents somebody who has never really grown up. Hal likes to hang out with Falstaff because he makes him feel grown up while not having to accept responiblity for ones actions. Falstaff hangs out with Hal because he makes him feel young and helps him out with the reponsibilities that he never accepted.
found this movie to be very compelling. Welles' choice of black and white film, the sets, especially the interior of the castle - huge, reminescent of, I beleive a set designed by Robert Edmund Jones for a production of Hamlet. I may have this wrong. But it was a similar feeling - huge, high sets, with lighting from above so that it played wonderfully with shadows. Very powerful. The use of black and white, and a different play with light and shadows used with the character Falstaff, gave him an almost "film noir" aura,a propos for the way Welles' played him. He becomes much more sinister, degenerate - yet at times watching him stumble and flail, both physically and emotionally is somehow pathetic and incredibly sad. In the same vein, Hal's use of him becomes equally as sinister.
I think the fact that Prince hall chooses the crown over flagstaff shows his responsibilities are shifted over and portrays the kind of man he is. Also the fact that Hal hangs out with certain men so that he will appear more impressive when he ultimately deserts them shows what kind of evil youre dealing with. Its almost like an ultimate ego trip for him.
The tavern was where Prince Hal’s second home was. It was a place he could drink, particularly with Falstaff, have fun and spend time with women. It was comical how Shakespeare used the tavern as a hangout, where the characters would make jokes about popular plays. The tavern was there for anyone who wanted to have a good time and served its community with alcoholic beverages. This significant place is where the characters were able to let loose and have a good time.
The battle scene in Chimes at Midnight was amazing for the time that it was filmed in with the resources that were available. It seems to remind me much about the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan in how it was meant to impact the audience.
Falstaff is definitely the type of character I would expect to find drinking in a tavern back in those days. Hal is pretty much just trying to have a good time and put off inevitable responsibility, something many people do prince or not. The emphasis on the Falstaff character in the film is not surprising seeing how it was the character Orson Welles was playing in his own movie.
True emphasis is put on Falstaff because Welles plays him, but Falstaff makes the serious play comedic. The behavior of Hal and Falstaff together reminds you of how real life buddies are, best friends or father and son or even an uncle and a nephew. They pick on eachother constantly and yet are reminding eachother of the responsibilities they should be attending to.
Interesting how Prince Hal turns out to be a mature yet ignorant king. I did not expect that at all. The sypnosis makes it sound like Prince Hal was a coward and he put himself low. However, in the end of the film Prince Hal is quite someone else to Falstaff.
I believe the relationship between Prince Hal and Falstaff is the most intriguing one throughout the story. As Harry matures he seems to distance himself away from Falstaff ever so slightly, like the scene at the battlefield when they are presenting his cousins dead body in front of his father. The one crucial point in this story is the fully developed King Harry, which is represented by Falstaff fading away in the final scenes.
I feel like the openness of the castle set emphasizes how troubled Henry IV is. He's always thinking about how he came to own the crown, and how his son supposedly wants him dead. The castle set where we see him is open and cold and everything looks hard and uncomfortable. It seems to reflect the way he is feeling. It also definitely makes me better believe that he is as stressed and lacking of sleep as he says he is. It may be grand, but someone who is under as much stress as the King would benefit from grand surroundings that weren't also cold and hard.
I thought it was interesting how the play was entitled "Henry IV" or "Chimes at Midnight" for the movie, but yet a huge chunk of it was devoted to the character of Falstaff. Another interesting aspect to the movie/play was the character developments of Falstaff, Hal, and Hotspur. Falstaff and Hotspur seem to represent each end of the spectrum (Falstaff is very fat and doesn't believe in honor and Hotspur is very devoted and loyal) and Hal is stuck in the middle wondering which side to lean towards.
Each scene was beautiful, almost as if it could be framed. However, it was sometimes hard to heard the dialogue because of the poor sound quality and how it was recorded. I did like how the character would be looking right into the camera when he/she is really talking to someone across the table. You rarely see this in movies now and days, so to me this was odd to see. The movie was also a little slow for me, and I wished there could have been a few more battles.
The exterior scenes and the battles, are spectacular, and deserve a place in history. The scenes grime and brutality is one of the best of its kind. It brings home that it was not all jolly and also helps in character building, as Falstaff, risible dressed in armor to contain his girth, effectively hides from the fighting until it is over and he can walk out of his shelter unscathed to praise Prince Hal on his victory. Seeing Falstaff at the center of the story for the first time, we can see what a gentle, pathetic, boastful, and good-hearted man he is. When Henry betrays him at the end it's all the more powerful for Henry V.
Even though this movie was a little long, I really enjoyed seeing Welles protray of this dark story, The battle scene were amazing, and made its mark in cinematic history.
I agree with marloweman. Although I found the story and dialogue hard to hear and follow, I enjoyed how wells used shadows in the movie. The castle and the woods I felt were the most interesting.
Chimes at Midnight
I really enjoyed watching Chimes at Midnight. I thought that Welles’ character was a little hard to follow up on. I really liked the cinematography in the film. I thought the music was not over done, and it didn’t distract me from the movie. I thought the battle scene was shot amazing for the resources they had to film it. The relationship between prince Hal and Falstaff reminded my best friend and me.
Post a Comment