The scandals and schemes surrounding the King of England became a popular movie theme during the mid-1960s and early-1970s. The films from this period include Becket, Camelot, A Man for All Seasons, Mary, Queen of Scots and The Lion in Winter. These films were usually British productions, and had excellent casts, costumes, sets and cinematography.
As it was based on a play, most of The Lion in Winter takes place inside the walls of a castle. The film surrendered its genre advantage of cinematography, and tried to compensate with a clever but talky script.
King Henry II of Britain (Peter O'Toole) is now fifty years old, and he knows that the time has come to choose his heir. He has promised the youthful King of France (Timothy Dalton) that his sister Alais (Jane Merrow) will be wed to the future king. Henry isn't looking forward to the marriage, for he has taken Alais as his own mistress.
Henry has three humorless sons, none of whom seem worthy of wearing his crown. Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins) is gay, Geoffrey (John Castle) is a traitorous schemer, and John (Nigel Terry) is a pathetic fool. Henry is also at odds with his estranged wife Eleanor (Katharine Hepburn).
There was a quarter century age difference between Hepburn and O'Toole, making O'Toole somewhat miscast. O'Toole is nearly unrecognizable behind a beard and thick makeup, and his usual dry charm is absent in favor of swaggering and bombast. O'Toole had played a much different Henry II in Becket (1964), a highly successful film that likely ensured his casting.
The Lion in Winter has been heavily praised for its dialogue, which is loaded with eloquent insults. Whether even estranged family members would say such things to each other is a different matter. The sons make little effort to curry favor with their powerful parents, even patently artificial Geoffrey.
All the cast members seem incapable of thinking without expressing their thoughts. When a film is criticized for resembling a stage play, this is what is meant; the story is expressed almost entirely through dialogue rather than cinematography.
The characters are also unable to think before they act, as there are endless ineffectual short-lived intrigues during the few days that the film covers. These plots always backfire, and come to nothing. But there wouldn't have been much of a story if the family had simply exchanged Christmas presents. What do you give a man who already has everything?
It had been just two years since the similar (and superior) A Man for All Seasons mopped up most of the major Oscars. But The Lion in Winter was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three.
Hepburn won her third Oscar for Best Actress, the second in a row following the equally overrated Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. James Goldman, who also wrote the stage play, won Best Adapted Screenplay. Peter O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor, and Anthony Harvey was nominated for Best Director. The Lion in Winter was also nominated for Best Picture. (53/100)
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