Falstaff (film)
| Movie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| German title | Falstaff | ||
| Original title | Campanadas a medianoche | ||
| Country of production | Spain , Switzerland | ||
| original language | English | ||
| Publishing year | 1965 | ||
| length | 119 minutes | ||
| Age rating | FSK 12 | ||
| Rod | |||
| Director | Orson Welles | ||
| script | Orson Welles | ||
| production | Alessandro Tasca, Ángel Escolano , Emiliano Piedra, Harry Saltzman |
||
| music | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino | ||
| camera | Edmond Richard | ||
| cut | Frederick Muller | ||
| occupation | |||
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| chronology | |||
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Falstaff (alternative title: Bells at midnight ; original title: Campanadas a medianoche) is a dramedy film by Orson Welles from 1965 that contains dialogue parts from five plays by William Shakespeare and uses them to tell a story about Shakespeare's character Falstaff .
For this, Welles used material from the first and second parts of Henry IV. , Henry V , from Richard II. And from The Merry Wives of Windsor . In addition, parts of Raphael Holinshed 's Holinshed's Chronicle are included as commentary.
action
After the murder of Richard II, the perpetrator Henry IV illegally celebrates himself as his successor, while the true heir to the throne, Edmund Mortimer, is imprisoned in Wales. Edmund's cousins Northumberland and Worcester and Northumberland's son Hotspur demand Edmund's reinstatement, which Heinrich refuses. Heinrich's son, Prince Hal, is enjoying life with Falstaff, goes to cathouses and is involved in all kinds of criminal activities.
When his father Heinrich visits Hal is reprimanded for his lifestyle and warned of the danger of a coup by Hotspur. Hal promises to defend his father and restore his good name.
While the king's troops, with Falstaff, are already getting ready, Heinrich speaks with Worcester and offers to forgive all of Hotspur's fighters for their betrayal if they surrender immediately. Worchester, however, reports to Hotspur that Heinrich will execute all insurgents.
Now a long battle ensues, at the end of which the king's army is victorious. Hal and Hotspur meet for a duel, which Hal wins by killing his opponent. Heinrich sentences Worchester to death and takes his men prisoner. Falstaff, who observed the duel between Hal and Hotspur, brings Heinrich Hotspur's corpse and claims that he killed him - but Heinrich does not believe him.
After defeating the insurgents, Heinrich's health deteriorated. After learning that his son is still spending time with Falstaff, he collapses and dies as a result. Before he dies, he speaks to his son and tries to steer him on the right track for his future office.
When Falstaff heard of Heinrich's death and the enthronement of Hals, he immediately went to the royal court in the hope of a good position - but Hal, who from now on wanted to follow a different lifestyle, refused and banished him. Falstaff returns to the tavern and dies that same night - of a "broken heart" as he says. Hal, on the other hand, as one voiceover describes, became a good and noble king.
synchronization
According to the German dubbing file , the following speakers took on the roles in the German dubbed version:
| actor | German speaker | role |
|---|---|---|
| Orson Welles | Klaus W. Krause | Falstaff |
| Keith Baxter | Lothar Blumhagen | Prince Hal / Heinrich V. |
| John Gielgud | Arnold Marquis | Henry IV. |
| Jeanne Moreau | Eva Katharina Schultz | There sheet tears |
| Margaret Rutherford | Eva Fiebig | Landlady Hurtig |
| Norman Rodway | Gert Günther Hoffmann | Hotspur |
| Fernando Rey | Friedrich W. Building School | Worchester |
| Alan Webb | Herbert Weissbach | Shallow |
| Walter Chiari | Klaus Miedel | Silence |
| Michael Aldridge | Gerd Duwner | Pistol |
| Tony Beckley | Claus Jurichs | Ned Poins |
| Andrew Faulds | Herbert Stass | Earl of Westmoreland |
| José Nieto | Konrad Wagner | Earl of Northumberland |
| Jeremy Rowe | Randolf Kronberg | Prince John |
| Patrick Bedford | Hans Walter Clasen | Bardolph |
| Ralph Richardson | Joachim Nottke | teller |
background
The film was shot in Spain from September 1964 to April 1965 on a budget of $ 800,000 and premiered in Spain in December 1965. In May 1966 it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival . The film was first shown in Great Britain and the USA in 1967 and in the Federal Republic of Germany at the end of 1968.
Due to copyright reasons, the film was not available for a long time. An edition of the film that appeared in 2013 made the German dubbed version available on DVD for the first time, according to the publishing house Zweiausendeins .
reception
Journalist Peter Buchka said of the film that it was "not just a work about aging, but also a sum of his [Welles] artistic work and an account of his life."
In his review of February 5, 1968, the film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four possible points and said that although the film had some tape problems, these did not affect its greatness. The film is a brilliant homage to Falstaff.
The rororo film lexicon also identifies technical defects, particularly in the sound, and attributes them to a lack of money. In terms of content, it is stated that any idea of the original plot and its structures is necessarily lost, but instead the film provides a new, valid view. The acting performance of Orson Welles and Margaret Rutherford is also praised.
The Protestant film observer also comes to a positive verdict: “Welles made perfect film theater as an author, director and leading actor. Thanks to the excellent cast of the other main roles, he avoided the risk of putting himself alone in the center. Highly recommended for friends of the theater and the art of acting. "
Awards
Orson Welles was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor for his portrayal of Falstaff . At the Cannes International Film Festival in 1966 , the film won the Technical Grand Prize and a special award on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the festival. He was also nominated for the Palme d' Or.
The former collegiate monastery of Sant Vicenç near Cardona , dating from the 11th century , was shown in the film for around thirty minutes as a scenery for the castles of Henry IV and Henry Percy and as the cathedral in which Henry V is crowned added to the list of treasures of European film culture of the European Film Academy .
Web links
- Falstaff in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Falstaff. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing index , accessed on April 22, 2017 .
- ↑ Orson Welles' Falstaff - Bells at Midnight. In: Zweiausendeins Edition Film 312. Retrieved October 8, 2014 .
- ↑ Peter W. Jansen, Wolfram Schütte (Ed.): Orson Welles . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich / Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-446-12454-3 , p. 130 .
- ^ Roger Ebert: Falstaff - Chimes at Midnight. February 5, 1968, archived from the original on August 17, 2014 ; accessed on October 7, 2014 (English).
- ↑ Liz-Anne Bawden (Ed.): Rororo Filmlexikon . Films A – J. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1978, ISBN 3-499-16228-8 , p. 98 .
- ↑ Evangelical Press Association, Munich, Review No. 174/1970.
- ^ Treasures of European Film Culture . European Film Academy ; accessed on September 22, 2016