The Lion in Winter (1968)

It's just a dysfunctional family Christmas - no reason to lose your head!

Intro.

This year, 98 films in, I've come to have a much greater appreciation for certain actors, actresses and directors.  One of those is the great Katharine Hepburn.  I've loved watching her, but realized that I've never seen her in one of her Oscar-winning roles.  Since I've often heard of The Lion in Winter, and since it was conveniently on TCM the other night, I decided to take a chance without knowing a thing about story, setting or character.

Overview

The Lion in Winter is set during Christmas in the year 1183.  King Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) has recalled his wife Elinor (Katharine Hepburn) from her confinement in a tower and has also called his three sons, Richard (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle), and John (Nigel Terry) to come to the castle for a Christmas court.  All of the family arrive and quickly the plotting and intrigue begin, as each son wants to be crowned as the next king.  Richard is Elinor's favorite and as such receives the aid of her very sharp mind.  John is Henry's favorite and receives a lot of help from his father.  However, added to the mix is King Phillip II of France (Timothy Dalton), who is there to keep in tact the pact made between France and England, wherein his sister Alais (Jane Merrow) is to marry the next king and have some sort of land deal in the trade (I think it's a return of the Acquitane region of France, currently held by Eleanor).  Anyway, there are too many deals and crosses and double-crosses to keep track of, but basically Richard and Eleanor plot against Henry, then Henry and Eleanor plot against Richard, then John and Richard both try to strike deals with Phillip for his help and oh yeah, Geoffrey, the son not favored by either parent, is trying to plot with just about everyone.  Henry, infuriated that all three of his sons have gone to Phillip to plot against Henry, banishes them to the basement and tells Eleanor that he intends to have their marriage annulled.  He wants to marry Alais (who is in love with him) and have more sons, ones that he can actually trust and with a woman he doesn't despise.  But first Eleanor has to try and save her sons.  Then Henry, realizing that he can't just keep his sons locked up forever (if any of them got out, they'd kill any new sons he and Alais might have), goes down to have one last confrontation (and possible beheading).  

Highlights

I think what worked best in this movie was the feel of it.  The whole thing felt like watching a play instead of a movie.  I thought at first that was due to the setting and different speech patterns, but then I realized it was in fact due to the filming as well.  The blocking, the delivery, it all felt like I was watching top Shakespearean actors performing on stage - all perfect, all fluid.  I'm not sure if that made me like the movie more or not; in truth, I felt a bit under-dressed and out of place watching on the couch in my pajamas.  What I really enjoyed was watching Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole together.  Their scenes made the whole movie; although I had trouble following all of the plotting, I could easily follow their hatred of one another.  Both are extremely talented in their profession and it's a true pleasure to watch them.  They have a great repertoire and present the picture of not only an estranged husband and wife, but also a couple who once loved one another (and may still) in spite of all their arguments, hatred and the occasional civil war between them.

Also interesting to follow were the sons.  I almost didn't recognize Anthony Hopkins as Richard, this film being one of the earliest in his career.  He's great as Richard and plays both the strong, powerful older brother as well as the wounded homosexual lover (turns out Phillip never really loved him).  I also really liked John Castle, who played Geoffrey.  It's easy to overdo the "unloved" middle child role, but Geoffrey takes it in a wholly different direction by playing both ends from the middle.  Man, I never want to play Geoffrey at chess!  I confess I've never seen John Castle before, but I want to see more of his work.  Also making his film debut is Timothy Dalton as Phillip II; who would think he'd go from being a rather unscrupulous King of France to being James Bond?

The writing is definitely Oscar worthy (the film won three Oscars - writing, music and best leading actress).  Who would have thought that a royal drama about princes overthrowing each other for the crown would have a lot of funny one-liners?  Some of the best are here:

Henry: I could have conquered Europe - all of it - but I had women in my life.

Eleanor: I adored you. I still do.
Henry: Of all the lies you've told, that is the most terrible.
Eleanor: I know. That's why I've saved it up until now.  

And quite possibly my favorite:
Geoffrey:  I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it.  We're a knowledgeable family.

Review and Recommendation

As for the recommendation, I know a lot of critics love this film and I imagine it would be pretty popular with fans of historical films or British history.  I'm not quite sure I liked this movie all that much.  Like I said, watching Hepburn and O'Toole together was the best part, but other than that I found it a little hard to follow.  Perhaps I need some more British History under my belt or even a better understanding of Shakespeare.  I'd like to at least read up on Henry and Eleanor and possibly some of King Lear before watching again.