Orson Welles has said that the most important character in the literary land of Shakespeare was Falstaff, the colorful overweight, boozy knight and nobleman who was friends with Prince Hal, the Prince of Wales. Falstaff was the most popular in Shakespeare's plays but never at the center of attention, certainly not as depicted here. With Orson Welles playing Falstaff in his own "Chimes at Midnight," it is no surprise to see him as the primary focus. This is where it feels right, a comical character is expanded on a story that becomes a rather serious drama by the end, about the rise and fall of a friendship and paternal love that becomes a betrayal. Shakespeare purists in the past found fault with Welles soliciting and combining certain passages and dialogue from Shakespeare's own history plays such as "Henry IV Part 1 and 2" (and a non-history play, "The Merry Wives of Windsor") but it is exciting and sometimes buoyant to see a different point-of-view from a supporting character. This is also one of the more spirited films Welles had ever made.
Buoyant would describe Welles' performance as Falstaff, a messy, jovial man who finds much merriment when he is with Prince Hal (Keith Baxter), and their gallivanting and humorous asides inside the Boar's Head Tavern can remind one of Robin Hood's own friendship with Little John. A tension is rising as Hal is admonished by his father, the austere King Henry IV (John Gielgud), for residing at that jolly tavern with its swarm of women and for hanging with Falstaff. Gielgud's reading of Shakespearean lines ("And in that very line, Harry, standest thou; For thou has lost thy princely privilege. With vile participation") is about "displacing air," a quote attributed to Welles' own documentary "Finding Othello," and it is almost musical rather than spoken - you can imagine that this amoral King can destroy with words, not actions. Hal is rash with his father yet something has affected the young prince. In many stirring and emotionally grounded scenes with Falstaff, Hal is slowly detaching himself from his friend, his second father as it were, and that words will in fact cause more damage than actions. How could they not in the land of Shakespeare?
There are many astounding sequences particularly the Battle of Shrewsbury where we see soldiers falling on each other after being struck by arrows and swords in the thick of muddy grounds. Welles employs fast cutting and a sense of randomness in war - it feels bestial and inhuman. Falstaff stands on the sidelines, not directly involved in the battle and it is clear he is not physically able to fight this civil war. After Prince Hal (principally mentioned as Prince Henry in the history plays) kills Hotspur (Norman Rodway), a rambunctious military leader from Northumberland (both actors delivering lines of regret beautifully), Falstaff wants to take credit for the killing (more so in the play where he thrusts the sword into Hotspur's leg) with the intention of impressing a dubious King. Falstaff wants to feel a kinship with Hal even in battle (earlier it is in a planned robbery of pilgrims carrying royal money in the woods that also feels like something out of Robin Hood).
"Chimes at Midnight" keeps you glued to the screen with Welles dominating with his immense presence, as if this part of England cannot rightfully exist without Falstaff. When we arrive at the final heartbreaking sequence of Prince Hal becoming Henry V, Falstaff is overjoyed at the news and springs forward at the coronation screaming "My king!" The king dismisses Falstaff, pretends not to know him, and has no disassociated himself from the tavern folk. The newly crowned Henry V may become as lonely and isolated as his own father. Falstaff's joy has turned to bitterness, something he may have foreseen because he felt he mattered to Hal. With Hal often walking away from Falstaff after the battle or leaving the tavern in earlier scenes, the heartbreak continues in moments that seemingly evoke Welles' own sadness and detachment from the Hollywood industry. All alone to weep for what might have been.
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