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The Lion in Winter<\/strong>\u00a0 (1968)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AVCO Embassy Pictures\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 134 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some language, violence, sexual references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Anthony Harvey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenwriter: James Goldman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: John Barry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 30, 1968 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Peter O\u2019Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Nigel Terry, Timothy Dalton, Jane Merrow, Nigel Stock.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $22.2 million (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rating: **** (four stars)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0One of my all-time favorite films! The Lion in Winter<\/strong> illustrates the kind of cinematic perfection rarely seen in films anymore.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0I first saw it in a film class I took at community college when I was a lad of eighteen. I didn\u2019t get to see the whole thing because the class ended before the movie and the professor didn\u2019t like watching films over the course of two class periods. I liked what I saw a lot and eventually got my hands on a copy. I\u2019ve watched it several times over the years and it never ceases to amaze me how perfectly it all comes together. I\u2019m especially impressed with the acting.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Peter O\u2019Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) plays King Henry II and let me tell you, this lion sure does roar! The ferociousness with which he attacks the role is evenly matched by Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond) as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, a tiger whose wit is as sharp as her claws. Together, they make quite the volatile pair. Is it any wonder that both actors were nominated for Oscars that year?* In fact, The Lion in Winter<\/strong> was nominated for seven Academy Awards; it won for Actress, Adapted Screenplay (Goldman) and Score (Barry). Of course, the acting is just one part of the whole. The Lion in Winter<\/strong> excels in virtually every way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Set in 1183, Henry has decided to hold Christmas court at his castle in Chinon, located in France and part of the king\u2019s vast empire. He keeps Eleanor imprisoned at Windsor Castle, mainly so he can be with his much-younger mistress Alais (Merrow), but decides to release her for the holiday. Alais is the half-sister of French king Philip II (Dalton, The Living Daylights). She\u2019s supposed to marry the future heir to Henry\u2019s throne, whoever that may be. Henry favors youngest son John (Terry, Excalibur), a dull-witted lad who clearly isn\u2019t mature or smart enough to take on such a responsibility. Eleanor wants to see their oldest son Richard (Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs) ascend the throne as he\u2019s a superb warrior. Then there\u2019s middle brother Geoffrey (Castle, RoboCop 3), a schemer with his own agenda. The action takes place over the course of a single day, Christmas Eve. This bunch gives new meaning to the term \u201cdysfunctional\u201d as they plan and plot against each other. This family definitely has its issues- sodomy, homosexuality, incest and treason, to name but a few. But, as Eleanor sarcastically points out, \u201cWhat family doesn\u2019t have its ups and downs?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0The set design in The Lion in Winter<\/strong> is nothing short of magnificent. You can almost feel the cold, drafty corridors and rooms of the castle. Director Anthony Harvey (They Might Be Giants) isn\u2019t afraid to get his hands dirty in depicting medieval times in a realistic fashion. The clothes that Henry wears are far from regal, you just know they stink with sweat and filth. The courtyard is overrun with chickens while dogs hang around the dining hall. When you think about it, there really wasn\u2019t all that much difference between the king and his peasant subjects. For example, the first thing Henry does each morning is break the layer of ice in his washing bowl. By the way he does it, you see that this is an automatic action, something that he\u2019s quite used to. He doesn\u2019t have it any better than his subjects.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Goldman\u2019s script, an adaptation of his own play, is top-notch. He retains the sharp and witty dialogue which flies like venom from the mouths of the characters. Hepburn does a particularly great job with her lines. O\u2019Toole may roar loudly, but she gets in her jabs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0The Lion in Winter<\/strong> also teems with intrigue; one almost needs a scorecard to keep track of who\u2019s doing what to whom. Harvey\u2019s virtuoso handling of the action is a definite plus. He adds a few cinematic touches- e.g. a jousting match, a battle scene- but mainly keeps it confined within the space of the castle. The scene in which the three brothers hide behind tapestries in Philip\u2019s quarters during a meeting with Henry is a particular stand-out. It\u2019s really nice to see an intelligent script handled intelligently. The Lion in Winter<\/strong> also has a great deal of wit, particularly in the exchanges between Henry and Eleanor. Their marriage is a constant battle of wits, a never-ending game of one-upmanship. O\u2019Toole and Hepburn work amazingly well with and against each other. It goes without saying that O\u2019Toole\u2019s performance is incredible. That the actor didn\u2019t win an Oscar for this movie is both a crime and a mystery. The Lion in Winter<\/strong> is one of the most deliciously entertaining \u201cserious films\u201d that I\u2019ve ever seen. It brings history to brilliant life. This is filmmaking at its absolute zenith. A total must-see for anybody claiming to be a movie lover.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n *Hepburn took home the golden statuette (she actually tied with Barbara Streisand for Funny Girl) while O\u2019Toole was snubbed in favor of Cliff Robertson for Charly.<\/p>\r\n The Lion in Winter\u00a0 (1968)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AVCO Embassy Pictures\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 134 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some language, violence, sexual references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Anthony Harvey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenwriter: James Goldman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: John Barry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 30, 1968 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Peter O\u2019Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Nigel Terry, Timothy Dalton, Jane Merrow, Nigel Stock.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-these-are-some-classic-flicks","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Lion-in-Winter-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":689,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Lion-in-Winter-POSTER.jpg?resize=620%2C930&ssl=1\")
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