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.

Deck the Halls with Bile and Treachery - The Lion in Winter review by griggs

The Lion in Winter is incredible—two hours of pure psychological warfare, where every character doesn’t just want to win; they want to obliterate. It’s like watching a chess match where the pieces are all armed and spiteful. None of them can resist twisting the knife, and they do it with such relish that you almost admire the malice.

The dialogue is blisteringly good—no surprise it won the Oscar—and Hepburn, who scooped Best Actress, is nothing short of volcanic. I didn’t expect a so-called “Christmas film” to be this dark. Just because there’s a yule log doesn’t make it festive. It’s relentless, brutal, and weirdly exhilarating. Every scene is laced with danger, every relationship on the brink. It’s a hate-fuelled cauldron—and I couldn’t look away.

Historical Drama At It's Best - The Lion in Winter review by GI

Historical drama filmed in an epic style riveting owing to the acting performances which are simply perfection. The cast are so impressive and deliver this rich tale of royal plotting and petty rivalry in a story that despite being confined to castle rooms is richly written and utterly compelling. Peter O'Toole plays Henry II who, aged fifty in 1183, is under pressure to name his heir from his three sons, Richard (Anthony Hopkins, in his first full length film role), Geoffrey (John Castle) and John (Nigel Terry). All three covet the throne and all look to their sly and cunning mother, Eleanor (Katharine Hepburn) for help in persuading the temper tantrum prone Henry to pick them. There are no trappings of wealth seen here and the period is accurately portrayed as dirty, damp and draught riddled and the plot plays out in a grimy castle. Hepburn and O'Toole are at the peak of screen acting here and deliver a charismatic battle of love, hate, respect and loathing for one another throughout. It's a long film that a modern audience may find daunting especially as this is not a film of spectacular set pieces but one that is more Shakespearean in style and delivery. Timothy Dalton also impresses as the visiting French King who slyly manipulates all three sons. Award winning this is historical drama at its best. A film to discover.