The Lion In Winter
All Of Britain And Half OF France Were His Kingdom. But There Was One Thing Henry II Would Never Control...His Family.
In winter of 1183, a royal family prepares for a joyous Christmas holiday reunion of scheming, conniving and deceit. King Henry II summons his cunning prison-bound wife to his side as he prepares to announce the succession of the throne to one of his double-crossing three sons, none of whom are qualified to rule the monarchy. Based on James Goldman's Academy Award®-winning screenplay, this stellar cast is lead by celebrated Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Patrick Stewart (Moby Dick, King of Texas) and the incomparable Emmy® winner and Oscar® nominee Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction).
Member Reviews
just your typical dysfunctional family reunion - 2commit
I was more impressed by this film that I thought I would be. Patrick Stewart, as expected, was amasing, but Glen Close was the real show-stopper—brilliant, elegant, malevolent, manipulative beyond imagination, and all done with enviable charm. The whole confusing aspect of the narrative was precisely the point of the Byzantine machinations of court life in the 1100’s. Read the histories of the British monarchy; it was filled with intrigue, deception, murder, political wrangling, geopolitics at its most extreme, a confusing array if inter-familial connections that extracted a heavy price from royal independent action. In that light, this film brilliantly shows that bewildering and confounding nature of Henry’s world.Surprisingly good!! - niall
I actually was quite pleased with the movie. Rare is the movie that actually keeps my interest all the way through the 2 1/2 hours. Stewart and Close were good at working together, acting as foils. I was also quite pleased withe the supporting cast. The three sons were quite good. JD-R was also excellent.
I do agree that the story's arc was confusing, but if you managed to stay focused on the movie, and not have household distractions like kids/dog/phone then you could understand the conflict faced by the King.Same Time Next Christmas? - Sandman2
This is a better movie than most of the reviews here give it credit for. I enjoyed it very much. It's not a strict remake of the 1968 film with Hepburn and O'Toole; this made-for-television version has additional scenes and, I believe, in at least one case, an expanded role. (Vysotskaya's Alais has a bigger part than I remember Jane Merrow playing.) The emphasis in this version is more on the idea that Eleanor *did* love Henry - an assertion that probably wouldn't have worked in the Hepburn-O'Toole version. That said, I don't agree that the 2003 version is inferior in every way. Arguably Stewart's Henry takes himself more seriously than O'Toole's, but Close isn't trying (with the exception of one moment early on) to recreate the performance than Hepburn gave. Her Eleanor is a far more wounded creature than Hepburn ever let us see. (When Close steps off the Queen's barge onto the landing at Chinon, Close's first line sounds like she's trying to use Hepburn's famously flinty voice. But that's the only time I noticed any imitation.)
If we start with the idea that Henry and Eleanor at one time did truly love each other, then the story gets even messier. The emphasis is less on the biting wit of the original, though signs of it are still there - but it's an angrier, more bitter family than Peter O'Toole and Katey had. The one place where this emphasis seems wrong is at the end, where the Queen sails back to her prison, strangely merry about the whole prospect; the King seems unaccountably happy and resigned to the fact that she'll come again next Christmas and try to do it all again. Their lighthearted farewell seems even odder than it does in the 1968 version, given that members of the family have just tried sincerely and repeatedly to assassinate each other. The holidays must bring out the worst in every family. It won't replace the 1968 movie, but it's an interesting experiment, with moving work from Stewart, Close, and Light in particular.
Member Reviews
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just your typical dysfunctional family reunion - 2commit
I was more impressed by this film that I thought I would be. Patrick Stewart, as expected, was amasing, but Glen Close was the real show-stopper—brilliant, elegant, malevolent, manipulative beyond imagination, and all done with enviable charm. The whole confusing ...Surprisingly good!! - niall
I actually was quite pleased with the movie. Rare is the movie that actually keeps my interest all the way through the 2 1/2 hours. Stewart and Close were good at working together, acting as foils. I was also quite pleased withe the supporting cast. The three ...Same Time Next Christmas? - Sandman2
This is a better movie than most of the reviews here give it credit for. I enjoyed it very much. It's not a strict remake of the 1968 film with Hepburn and O'Toole; this made-for-television version has additional scenes and, I believe, in at least one case, ...