Rent The Lion in Winter (1968)

Depends on you..... - The Lion in Winter review by SB

Whether you will enjoy this film - it is primarily a feast of acting and words rather than action, which goes no further than Peter O'Toole striding about shouting, and his sons waving daggers. The setting is medieval muck in a French castle on Christmas Eve 1183. The script is highly literate, of a sort producers nowadays would run away from, and is the bedrock for the duel of wills between Hepburn's Eleanor of Aquitaine and O'Toole's irascible Henry II, one of England's greatest kings although little known today. The script dances with humour and repartee, but you need to pay attention through 135 minutes to get full benefit from it. There is little concession to those who do not know their history, although it could be said that the details of the situation facing Henry don't matter a lot - this is about people, and it could be any family anywhen and anywhere. As Eleanor remarks after one bruising encounter, 'all families have their ups and downs' - although these are very intense.

Hepburn has the showier yet also more subtle role, and it was right that she got an Oscar, although she is hard to warm to. But then her character, one of the most powerful women in medieval Europe, was not a nice person. O'Toole, bundled up in about 20 layers to make his slim form heavier and bulkier, more like a rampaging bull-king, snarls a lot - but is not without guile and humour. It could be said that this was one of his best performances ever, because he is up against a better one. The roles of the sons offer opportunities to three then-young actors, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins and Nigel Terry, which they take good advantage of. The only other role, the somewhat ancillary one of Henry's French mistress/prospective daughter-in-law Alais, is played quite well by Jane Merrow, whose career did not gain as much thereby as it might have done.

The sound and picture on the restored blu-ray version are excellent.

Medieval Melodrama. - The Lion in Winter review by Steve

This adaptation by James Goldman of his own stage play imagines a power struggle between Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine as they plot for succession between their three sons in 1183. What it most resembles is a medieval variation on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And the history is fictionalised into a star vehicle for Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn.

Both actors give big, boisterous performances as the battling Plantagenets, as they manoeuvre for control. Hepburn creates one of her signature roles and won a deserved Oscar. While it's more of a comedy than a serious historical document, the locations, sets and costumes make the period feel unusually authentic and lived in.

The three sons each represent a key characteristic of the King. Anthony Hopkins as Richard (the Lionheart), is a warrior. John Castle as Geoffrey, is a schemer. And Nigel Terry as John, is a grotesque. Though the constant internecine intrigue is elaborate, it's easy to follow, and entertaining.

O'Toole gives a more irreverent interpretation of Henry than he does in Becket. Though he's palpably the same man, but older. The dialogue is intentionally anachronistic and stacked with great lines and memorable insults. Everything is exaggerated. Maybe it struggles to sustain the pantomime all the way to the fade out, but it's still a lot of fun.