Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Directed by Orson Welles
Simultaneously one of the loosest and most faithful Shakespeare adaptations, Welles’s least-seen (and perhaps greatest) work sits at the middle of the spectrum between the ornate bricolage of his most prestigious pictures and the rawer inventiveness of his other shoestring productions. The pinnacle of this balancing act is the Battle of Shrewsbury sequence, picked apart by other filmmakers for decades for using formal precision to evoke absolute, mud-slicked pandemonium. But best of all is the man himself as Falstaff, bringing all his theatrical chops and cult of personality to a corpulent, arrogant but ceaselessly good-humored companion equally credible as a wizened guide and a relatable peer. Jake Cole (Jan 26, 8pm; Feb 1, 5:30pm at Film Forum’s Welles centennial)