Sunday, July 17, 2011

Welles' Greatest Shakespeare Film ... Available At Last?

Shakespeare Geeks may or may not know the story of Chimes At Midnight, Orson Welles' conflagration of so many history plays that I don't even have an accurate count (although I'm sure someone will correct me).

On the one hand, it is Welles' masterpiece - he himself called it his favorite of all his films, and many believe it to be the greatest Shakespeare film yet made.  This is not even counting the technological achievements, such as the first use of "shaky cam" for the battlefield scenes. 

The problem is that, due to a nightmare of legal issues, the film is not available in a US version.  If you've seen it, chances are that you have seen the Brazil import.

Well good news!  It looks as though people have been trying to sort out the ownership red tape for years, and have finally gotten it straight (for now?).  The article says that the film has been "restored" as well as re-released, so I wonder whether that refers just to the quality of the print, or the possible edition of new material?

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