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1968 Classic Film: The Lion in Winter
Revisiting and reviewing the 1968 film, The Lion In Winter and why it is still a favorite.
The 1968 film version of The Lion In Winter is one of my favorite films. Yes, that’s right – it was made in 1968 and in 2009 it holds up. That cliche about how truly great books remain great throughout time can also be true for some films. This is one of them.
A fictionalized account of a family Christmas of King Henry Plantagenet in the year 1183, the film features a cast that would satisfy the fantasies of any film buff. Peter O’Toole plays a boisterous and intense King Henry, Katharine Hepburn (who won an Oscar for her performance) is the vivacious and vicious aging Queen Eleanor, a very young Anthony Hopkins inhabits the angry and ambitious Richard the Lionheart, and last (but not least) it marks the film debut of an even younger Timothy Dalton as the precocious and manipulative King Phillip II of France.
Plotwise, the film is fraught with multiple lines of tension and turmoil as the three sons of King Henry vie to be next in line for the throne. King Henry has his favorite, the youngest son, John. Eleanor prefers the oldest, Richard, and Geoffrey is left with no allies to support his cause. King Phillip II visits over the holiday and has his own machinations in mind as he observes each family member trying to manipulate the others. He exploits the conflict to further his own agenda. The political intrigue between families is made more interesting by the intense emotional relationships between all the characters. These relationships are portrayed brilliantly, and the dialogue is simply astonishing. Witty, scathing and touching, some of it manages to make you cringe and laugh at the same time. The screenwriter James Goldman is simply heroic for creating something as layered and eloquent is this. Underlying the entire story is a social commentary about the origins of war that is as relevant today as it was in 1968.
Keeping in mind that some of the technical aspects of film-making in the year 1968 are a far cry from what can be done in the year 2009, this drama still holds up. It may appear slightly faded and grainy on screen and some of the action shots may feel a bit slow-moving and anti-climactic to modern day audiences, but The Lion In Winter remains fluid, compelling and timeless.
