Critic Reviews
94
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
positive
22(96%)
mixed
0(0%)
negative
1(4%)
Showing 23 Critic Reviews
100
The best and most touchingly personal of all Shakespeare adaptations, Chimes At Midnight is pervaded by melancholy and loneliness, even though its characters are almost seen never alone.
100
It's powerful stuff.
100
The one Welles film that deserves to be called lovely; there is also a rising tide of opinion that proclaims it his masterpiece.
100
A masterpiece.
100
Chimes at Midnight is one of Welles' peak achievements. Its depth of feeling seems very real, very deep indeed.
100
It is quite likely the greatest Shakespearean film ever and, except for Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, it’s also Welles’s greatest film – which is saying something.
100
It’s a feast for the ears, eyes, and soul.
100
Playing Falstaff might have been Welles’s creative and physical destiny: in the character he found a dignity and sensuality in his, by then, overweight form. The confidence and panache of his staging is a treat.
100
Most of all, Chimes at Midnight is gorgeously, heartbreakingly sad, shot through with romantic surrender and the ache of loss.
100
Welles is at the height of his powers while reveling in the poetic force of Falstaff’s weakness.
