Simply Perfect

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

As a cinematic experience, the film is compelling and visually entertaining throughout. As a study in family dynamics, I do believe that King Henry II and Eleanor Aquitane, along with their sons, put a capital 'D' in the word dysfunctional. As such, various sorts of nefarious intrigue come to light as the warring monarchs engage in a battle of wills to see their favorite be named to the succession. It's middle son Geoffrey (John Castle) who appears as the odd man out in this tempestuous feud, as Henry favors the youngest, John (Nigel Terry), while Eleanor sees only Richard (Anthony Hopkins) as worthy. Such is Henry's dilemma that at one point, he throws all favoritism to the wind and imprisons his three sons while deciding to marry the much younger Princess Alais of France (Jane Merrow). Aside from the scourge of watching these figures plot and malign to their heart's content, the performances of all the principals is roundly stellar, most notably that of Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor and Peter O'Toole as King Henry II. They portray the kind of characters that fascinate in their loathsome behavior, and definitely not the sort of family members you would want to have over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Picture, if you will, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? set in 1100s England, and instead of dinner guests, the lead couple bickers with their adult children. Now replace Liz and Dick with Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. That's The Lion in Winter.In 1183, King Henry II is in the winter of his life. He has his heart set on leaving the throne to his youngest son, but his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine wants their eldest son to inherit. For years, Henry has imprisoned the queen in a faraway castle, only letting her out for royal functions and holidays. During Christmas, she's brought home, and the two rulers play a nonstop game of cat and mouse, constantly trying to outsmart and out-hurt the other. With their three sons and the visiting king of France as pawns, it's an incredibly lively story.Peter O'Toole reprises his role as Henry II; he'd already played him four years earlier in Becket. He gives a wonderful, emotional, frustrated performance, but in the stiff competition for Best Actor in 1969, he lost to the unworthy performance of Cliff Robertson in Charly. It's tough to pick which loss is more appalling, The Lion in Winter or Becket. In either case, and even though I'm sure Richard Burton would have been just as good if not better in this role, Peter O'Toole is impressive. The sons are played by Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, and Nigel Terry. It was Anthony Hopkins's second theatrical film, and Timothy Dalton's first; Tim was very touched that Kate would come onto the set on her days off to act with him when he did his closeups and her presence wasn't technically needed. There's an awful lot of touching trivia relating to this film. Peter and Kate enjoyed each other's company on the set, having known each other for years earlier; Peter named his daughter after her. And speaking of descendants, Katharine Hepburn's lineage can actually be traced back to Eleanor and Henry II! The art and production designs are fantastic in the film. The castle is expansive, but the rooms are mostly empty. The thrones look worn and slightly coarse, and the jewelry looks rich but primitive. Margaret Furse's costumes are in mostly dark, muted colors, and they look very authentic. Furs and large swaths of linen are draped over the actors' shoulders; there are no ornately sewn gowns because in the 1100s, lavish clothes couldn't really have been created.And finally, there's Katharine Hepburn, who won her third Best Actress Oscar for the film. She vacillates between angry, hurt, cunning, desperate, hopeful, loving, deceitful, and exhausted, and each emotional change takes the audience with her. At times she'll make you laugh and at times she'll make you cry. You'll be kept on your toes, unsure of who to trust or root for, but it'll be worth it. After all, as Kate said in the film, "Every family has their ups and downs."

I have given this film 7 out of 10 mainly because of the location scenes and the costumes. Generally the acting was superb but totally marred for me by the horrendous mistake of casting Katherine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. OK - she can act - BUT a medieval French lady with a broad American drawl totally spoilt most of her scenes. In the version that I have there are 9 subtitle languages but no English in sight. What an oversight, especially when conversations get heated and background noise is rather intrusive. Very disappointing for those who are increasingly hard of hearing. With all of that plotting going on it's a marvel that many of them lived so long!

King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) learns the lesson of King Lear refusing to divide his kingdom in three for his three sons. He wants to leave it to his youngest John (Nigel Terry) and have him marry his mistress Alais. His estranged wife Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) is imprisoned wants the oldest Richard the Lionheart (Anthony Hopkins) to take over. During Christmas 1183, King Henry II calls together all the players including King Philip II of France (Timothy Dalton) as everybody schemes to take the throne.The great actors are showing their skills in this movie adapted from the play. The historical drama has been fictionalized. The acting is strong especially Katharine Hepburn. There isn't a weak performance except maybe Jane Merrow as Alais. However her character is nothing but a pawn. The production is fair. The camera work doesn't take full advantage. The scale looks smaller than the movie needs. There are a few too many long distant shots by director Anthony Harvey. If there is truly a weak spot in the film, the visual style comes closest. There is a reasonable number of people there, but the movie just doesn't look it. And it's hard to root for anybody in this movie which makes it harder to watch.