Shakespeare Fans discussion

I just finished watching Orson Welles' adaptation of the King Henry IV plays called Chimes At Midnight. It is interesting take on The Henriad from Falstaff's point-of-view, similar to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It is done as good as you can imagine an Orson Welles movie to be and the battle scenes are very reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa. Has anyone else seen this movie?

I haven't but that sounds amazing!

It is. Orson Welles manages to merge the two Henry IV plays in just the right way. He considers this his best movie as well.

I'm thinking of watching this in the near future. Maybe in late spring we could do a drop viewing?

I’m up for that! It’s been on my to-be-viewed list for years. Actually…what is a ‘drop viewing’? Whatever it is, sounds good!

Its a typo!!!!

Oh my god...I have too many things on the go. I am so interested in watching Chimes At Midnight. Let me see if I can find a copy....

In the mean time I have been doing a Final Cut tutorial...and I feel after hours of lessons I've got bit of an indoor confidence I can use the feature now. I'm putting first attempts of my documentary together. It takes time and for me...a lot of quiet time which I seldom seem to be able to find. I need day dreaming time because I am writing a sorry of diary essay voice over for the documentary.

Then I am also trying to get my Youtube channel more visitors. I have been making ASMR button collection videos. if you feel like you have time to subscribe to my channel...that would be great. It's free. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXzh...

And I just had a precise accepted for a conference in October....I shall share the proposal with you all here as I'm using some of the sonnets...to approach Cormac McCarthy!

One One Seven Tennessine
“Good luck lies in odd numbers ... They say, there's divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death” Shakespeare
What do the patterns of pagination mean in McCarthys novels? Is it numerical composition, numerology or maybe a memory system? What could the repeated numbers 46 mean on page 46 of Blood Meridian? (*) The passage aligns the gang with the stars above and perhaps that relates to the 46 stars in Guadalupe’s mantle? Is there significance having number seventeen on page eleven in Stella Maris and number seventeen on page seventeen in The Passenger? I believe McCarthy has a lot of fun with numbers in his work bringing a suppressed design found in some ancient artifacts to his own contemporary work. Is it a coincidence that the Periodic chemical element 117 was co-discovered at Oak Ridge. so close to Knoxville?
(* 25th anniversary edition)

I have also been approached to do a collaborative essay on Blood Meridian with a friend professor John vanderheide.

These various projects have a fair bit of overlap.

I also have a substack page where I'm slowly publishing chapters which I wrote as presentations at conferences.

So its not an easy thing for me to have finished commenting on HENRY discussion in May...and to commit to discussion here for Chimes At Midnight.

But my heart and desire is strong. So I will try to make more effort to visit here.

This group has given me endless inspiration for over 15 years! I want to keep our discussions and research as a group going! I care a great deal about this group.

Well... I see that I could get a subscription to the Criterion channel. I've always wanted to get one of these. I do have several...dozens of dads from Criterion but not the app.

If we are serious about the discussion...I will get it.

I'll check back in a. few days to see if anyone else is still interested.

I know I know...I'm biting off a lot to chew. Especially when I get focused on something then I lose track of coming in to check topics at this group. Ugh.

Hey Candy. The Criterion Channel’s one of my most cherished subs. If I had to chuck most of my subscriptions, TCC and YouTube Premium would be the last two to go. And Chimes is a longtime fave. Have you ever considered a group watch? Outside of YouTube live chats I participated in a few online group viewings for the first time this past spring. Sometimes it was a lot of fun and sometimes, quite contentious, depending the group participants. We did them on the Discord server, which I recommend actually, as a sort of film-corollary to this forum if it sounds interesting. Younger people take to the platform like ducks. Older folks take a minute to get used to it but it’s a fairly straightforward interface. Just some good for thought if the idea of forming a movie sub group appeals to you.

But, yes, The Criterion Channel is loaded with cinematic treasures, including Chimes. And I actually like their new 24/7, round the clock streaming movie feature which is a kind of random rotation of films with no scheduled list or format. You can see the title of the film playing at the moment but not what’s coming or, for that matter, what just went off. LOL Fun, if you up for a surprise.

I shall look forward to subscribing to CC in the autumn! Great reviews thank you Marlin.

Sure, Candy. I’m not sure if they’ll extend it past August but they are currently running a ‘Pop Shakespeare’ retrospective (I'm watching Pop Shakespeare on The Criterion Channel
http://www.criterionchannel.com/pop-s...), which features a handful of the Bard’s plays on film that were released during the heyday of Generation X:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykHVo...

Well..many months later...but I finally managed to get a copy of CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT.

Wow. What an absolutely gorgeous film. Thank you B.P. for starting this thread and drawing my attention to the movie.

Orson Welle is so good I almost forgot it was him in the movie.

I found this to have left me feeling quite sad today. I woke up a little gloomy with overcast skies in Toronto and not a good sleep. So going into this movie I was already feeling anxiety but this just was so emotional.

One thing kind of superficial was...how interesting that in 1966 John Gielgud looks the same age as he did 20 years later in the fluffy movie ARTHUR. His portrayal was so mesmerizing...when he becomes more and more ill...it was so realistic.

I found the set direction and style so realistic and provocative in this movie the black and white cinematography was outstanding. Orson Welles direction and acting are off the charts. If he believed this to be his best movie I can see why. But I think he is too hard on his oeuvre I don't think he's made a bad film. I watched F IS FOR FAKE about 6 months ago (I've seen it many times) and THE THIRD MAN a week ago. They are stunning no matter how many times I see them.

I am very torn up about Hal's behavior once he becomes king. This is the first time that I actually felt a little bit "on his side" that he had to withdraw from Falstaff. I've always been so sad and furious about that.

Today...I saw the ending similar to SHANE. Falstaff is an anti-hero like Shane...and such heroes anti- or not....can not be part of civilized society...they are a danger to domesticity. Shane threatened the family structure tempting the mother/wife by being so much more alive, exciting brave...than almost any one could be.

We need our superheroes to live outside domesticity. Their bravery, wit, strength is harnessed from something outside of daily society.

Today I thought Welles portrayal really was lovable...but also repulsive...in a perfect blend. He was a man to be a part of economy....but not in charge, not to lead or couple. His worth is as an imaginative scavenger on everything that isn't courtly or society.

We need such heroes to be there to take care of challenges not faced.

A little like...the old west cowboy was truly an outsider...like Clint Eastwood...they can not have family or live in one house or ranch. They function and succeed by not following rules.

Falstaff...oh Falstaff its so sad....in some ways Falstaff was Hals loving role model because his real father was corrupted by power and leadership...and now Hal must steel himself for that life. It's quite a terrible story about patriarchy and the roles hoisted on men in a patriarchal culture. to fair...and terrible for relationships.

I hope someone drops by who has seen the movie...it's interesting for me...that what I saw in the movie so strongly...I wasn't able to see so clearly reading the play. It's there but the Welles adaptation really showed me something about our portrayal of heroes.

This pertains to the thread on "is Shakespeare contemporary?" and it adds another hard YES to the answer.