Ian
(Flash Review)This is a literal chess match with an actual king, queen, knights, bishops, rooks and pawns. King Henry II is verbally jockeying with his wife, Duchess Eleanor, whom he has imprisoned but released for the Christmas holiday on which of their three sons shall become the future King. Add onto the game board, King Philip II of France and his half-sister who is the proverbial pawn and King Henry II's mistress. Each player has an angle to play for power or treasure or love. Who will make the shrewdest moves? Will any other them be able to outmaneuver and checkmate Henry? This is basically a sequel to the film Becket and both films have superb screenplays with smart, clever, emotional and snappy dialog. This still feels like it could be acted on stage but the sets in here give the proper appearance of being in a castle and compliment the dialog-driven nature of the film. O'Toole and Hepburn share many scenes together and give a full range of emotions; fun to see if that's your thing. Many reviewers are upset O'Toole didn't win the Oscar for this.
Hitchcoc
This was the most talked about film of 1968. It is the story of an aging Henry II and his efforts to divide his kingdom at the time of his death. He has his queen, Eleanor of Acquitain, locked up in a castle and has released her to help him sort things out. He has three sons, one a petulant little man, full of fire and anxiety; the second, a man with a persecution complex who feels he is the odd man out; and the third, Richard the Lion Hearted, a warrior (who is exposed as a homosexual). This is a movie where the dialogue is fast and furious. Henry has a mistress and she becomes a pawn in this game. He tries to hand the kingdom over to a couple sons, but the conditions they place on his choice cause him to change his mind. Enter the French ruler who is furious that Henry is exerting power that he has no right to, in his opinion. The byplay between the Queen and Henry is marvelous; there is no one who can spar verbally better than Hepburn. There is a kind of dance that goes on. This is the very soul of dysfunction. I had never seen this in its day. It is a marvelous portrayal of the failings of a family. And an actual love story, as strange as that sounds.
tieman64
Anthony Harvey directs "The Lion in Winter". The plot? It is 1183, and King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) has assembled his wife (Katharine Hepburn) and sons at his French estate. The King hopes to appoint his youngest son successor, but his family have other plans. What unfolds is a game of stealth and strategy, our large cast of royals, each a Machiavellian monster, plotting to cross, double cross and even kill, all in the name of titles and property. Based on a play by James Goldman, this is politics as schoolyard bickering, our Kings, princes and Queens as ignoble and idiotic as crybabies and bullies."The Lion in Winter" is shapeless, overly proud of its wit, and poorly structured. It is at its best when it acknowledges the comedic absurdity of its premise ("What family doesn't have its ups and downs?") and when a young Timothy Dalton is on screen. He plays King Philip II, a serpentine man whose burning hatred stems from both Henry and Henry's eldest son, Richard the Lionheart (Anthony Hopkins). Both father and son are a couple of rapists, sodomizers and brutes, with Phillip being just one of their many victims.But it is Henry's imprisoned queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Hepburn), who's given the film's best lines. In a long monologue she explains that her family, indeed the whole feudal system, is the cause of all the hate, violence and ugliness in the world. Moment's later she looks in a mirror and praises her own beauty.7.9/10 – See Kurosawa's "Ran" for this material handled as good as its ever been. See too "Becket" (1964), also with Peter O'Toole as King Henry II.
Tad Pole
Peter O'Toole (England's King Henry II, here) had a great sense of humor, and for 1968 he thought a film version of the American TV Sit-Com MY THREE SONS meets the Edward Albee Broadway play WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF would be just the ticket to get out the Nixon vote. William conquered England for the French in 1066, and for generations Afterwards his army's descendants adulterated our pure Anglo Saxon vernacular with thousands of Frenchisms. Recently, French politicians have had the Gaul to hypocritically ban the very words with which they raped and pillaged King Arthur's English! THE LION IN WINTER director Anthony Harvey wisely dispenses with the traditional paragraphs of expository print-on-screen at the start (that is, "Who ARE these people?) and finish ("And then what became of them?") of this flick. He cut this background crap NOT because he thought most viewers already would know who's who, but on account of the fact that all of the characters here ARE REALLY FRENCH!! Therefore, no one CARES who lives or dies, as long as they do it quickly. Just as people trek to Indy every May yearning to see a spectacular car wreck, THE LION IN WINTER crowd hopes against hope for a HAMLET-style climax: EVERYONE DIES. Alas, no such luck.
AD
