Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Sight & Sound Challenge: Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Film: Chimes at Midnight (163/250) 
First Time/Rewatch: First Time 

I had a hard time getting into this one, and it's entirely on me. I haven't read a single page of Shakespeare's work, and the Shakespearean dialogue in this film had me completely lost. I tried really hard to follow it, but I kept finding myself getting unfocused and having to look up the film on Wikipedia to figure out who was who and what exactly was going on, which was discouraging. Maybe I was just tired that day...at any rate, despite being lost, I enjoyed the performances. Orson Welles was great, of course, and everybody else did a wonderful job. I'm always in awe of actors who are able to memorize and deliver these monologues in language that's completely different than modern speech. The sets and staging was great too. Craig was telling me about the making of the film while we were watching it and the low budget and obstacles aren't really apparent at all. And at the end of it, once I had figured it out, I can't say I didn't enjoy it overall. 

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