The Lion in Winter

Based on the 1966 stage play of the same name, The Lion in Winter tells a fictional account of Henry II of England as he attempts to establish a line of succession to the throne during one tumultuous Christmas season at his castle in Touraine, a province in France, in the winter of 1183. The play, and subsequently the film, took many liberties on the real events of that winter and by doing so paints a picture that is overly humorous and depicts the heirs of Henry II as backstabbers and schemers and their mother an enigma. 

Henry II, himself, is seen as a man of strong passions and the film strongly suggests that he had homosexual tendencies on top of being an unfaithful husband who has sired many bastard children over the course of his reign. All of this is jumbled together in a script that takes little time to breathe as it jumps from one back-stabbing moment to another with hardly a second in-between. The film runs well over two hours in length but is so energetic that those minutes breeze past quickly and it feels much shorter than it actually is. 

The film follows fifty-year-old Henry II (Peter O’Toole) who has summoned his family to the castle for the season and for the intent on establishing his successor. This family includes Richard the Lionheart (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle), and John (Nigel Terry). Also there is Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katherine Hepburn), Henry’s estranged wife who has been granted a reprieve from imprisonment in England for the holiday. Henry loves his youngest son the most and wants him to be the next King, although John has the weakest character,  whereas Eleanor prefers Richard, the eldest, who shows strength and courage but lacks the temperance and intellect of a true King. In the middle is Geoffrey who is smart and cunning and uses it to sway his brothers into actions that will eliminate them from consideration for the throne or plunge the empire into war.

Added to that mix is Philip II, the King of France and successor to Louis VII (Timothy Dalton), who has arrived to settle some business. Louis VII has pledged Philip’s half-sister Alais (Jane Merrow), currently Henry’s mistress, to be wed to Henry’s future heir. This wedding will include a substantial dowry, a strategically important county near Paris. Philip demands either the wedding occur or the return of the dowry, putting pressure on Henry to choose the successor who with thus wed Alais. 

Henry acquiesces Richard the throne and Alais only if Eleanor agrees to surrendering the Duchy of Aquitaine. She proposes instead to let John take the Kingdom in exchange for her freedom and her keeping the Duchy of Aquitane. Richard covets the Aquitaine himself and refuses to go along with the marriage, as his father knew he would. Geoffrey sees the treachery in Henry’s ploy, manipulates John to plot with Philip to make war with Henry in exchange for being named Chancellor under John’s reign when he inevitably conquers his father. Things bandy about with in-fighting and treachery and Henry soon recognizes that none of his three sons are suitable heirs.

The real life drama that took place in 1182 may be fictionalized here but the backgrounds and destinies of the main characters is fairly accurate. There was a Christmas court at Caen that year. There were also several rebellions in the years afterwards. Unlike the film, though, there was not a second Christmas court the following year. Eventually Richard and Philip successfully overthrew Henry II and took over his reign. Richard would later go on to command the Third Crusade leaving his younger brother John to rule in his stead. John’s rule was so bad that out of that history came the story of Robin Hood in which he was the central villain. 

There is a surprising amount of levity in the production of The Lion of Winter. It looks on the surface like a period piece drama about Kings and Queens but it doesn’t take long to reveal a wicked, sometimes irreverent sense of humor. It also takes some liberties with some of the characterizations, including the homosexual references to Henry II, something that there is no solid evidence of. Where it gets confused is in the tone of the picture. This is campy at times and borders on farcical yet is played like a serious piece of historical drama. The shifting tones and underlining emotional narrative are often at odds with each other. They don’t mesh very well at all. It may have played better on the stage but here in motion picture form it often becomes distracting. The actors are doing their best with the material but it’s better suited for the small stage where the interaction between performer and audience is more intimate. 

The Lion in Winter was nominated in 1968 for seven Academy Awards, winning three of them. The adapted screenplay was one of them; It’s a complicated script that has to get a lot of information and story across in a short period of time and does so effectively. However, some of this is dense enough that having a good understanding of the history of the time will definitely help digest this plot and its various turns. Composer John Barry also took home a statue for a score that occasionally overshadows what is going on screen. Mostly it doesn’t call attention to itself in the context of the film, but when it does it is unsurprisingly effective. 

Both Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn were nominated for their acting, too. Peter’s performance is often poignant and nuanced but just as often it is over-the-top and campy. When he is fighting Richard in the final act he is playing it like he’s on the stage projecting to the back row. Katherine is out-acting him at every turn. She has moments where she goes from angry to sad in an instant, her whole countenance quivering with sorrow and tears threatening to spill down her face. She is so good here that it reminds us of why she was such a decorated actress. Even with such an overly-dramatic role she finds a way to rein it in and make it completely believable. 

While there are times that this film is a bit too much, it’s a very watchable movie that is often fun to experience. This is not the dry period drama I was expecting when I started watching it. There is a level of comedy to the proceedings not often seen in films of this ilk. It makes for a unique viewing experience and never allows the film to become stale or boring. Add to that the two leads firing on all cylinders and you have a film that earns its reputation as one of the top five films of 1968. It didn’t win the top prize, nor did it deserve to, but it is still one of the best, if sometimes inconsistent, films of the year.

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Martin Poll

Best Director: Anthony Harvey

Best Actor: Peter O’Toole

Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn (won)

Best Screenplay - Based on Material from Another Medium: James Goldman (won)

Best Costume Design: Margaret Furse

Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (Not a Musical): John Barry (won)

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Release Date: October 30, 1968

Running Time: 134 minutes

Rated PG

Starring: Peter O’Toole, Katherine Hepburn, Jane Merrow, John Castle, Timothy Dalton, Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Stock and Nigel Terry

Directed By: Anthony Harvey