Royal Ruckus --- The Lion In Winter --- (Film Review 3)

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Christmas in the year 1183. King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) resides at his château in Chinon, France, together with his three sons, Richard, Geoffrey and John. He's invited, or rather summoned, his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katherine Hepburn) for the holidays. He's exiled her because of her constant interference in his affairs. She's lived locked in the Salisbury Tower at Windsor Castle for ten years already. Later King Philipp II of France arrives, son of Eleanor's ex-husband, Louis II of France, and half-brother to Alais, King Henry's current mistress. The King hasn't become sentimental and wants the family around him for the festive season. The reason for the gathering is that he's 50 years old. He feels ancient. "Good God...I'm the oldest man I know." He wants to decide which son will be his successor and settle his affairs once and for all. For this he needs the Queen's consent. But that's the snag. She doesn't give her consent to his plans. Hewing and stabbing ensue, verbally and literally. "What should we hang - the holly or each other?" Each of the main protagonists fights for themselves, in order to reach their aims they plot, cheat and lie but also form alliances. Once, in a rare moment of calm, the King and the Queen are walking arm in arm along a corridor and she says, "You know what, I've never really liked our children." The flame of their former love hasn't been completely extinguished in the Queen and the King confesses to feeling a deep affection for her. The last scene of the film is one of the best a film has ever had. You could never imagine it! The Lion in Winter (released in 1968) is an intimate film. The language is elaborate with a Shakespearian flair. People talk, argue, shout, whisper, cry, they love or hate each other and sometimes both at the same time. Hepburn got an Oscar for her Performance. O'Toole was nominated, too, but didn't get one because he'd already got the trophy for playing the same king, Henry II, in Beckett. The Lion in Winter is deeply rooted in history. Yet, I find it deals with eternally valid themes. Let Henry not be the King of an Empire but the boss of a firm with sons who all want to inherit it and hate each others' guts. Make him a conniving, sly old fox who can see every treachery coming and is capable of every treachery himself. Give him a wife with the same qualities. He wouldn't be able to exile her as it was possible in the Middle Ages, but he'd find a way to get rid of her - make her live in a rich, second home far away - so that he could live with his young lover. Maybe he wouldn't threaten his sons with a dagger and throw them into a dungeon but he'd certainly find other means to subdue them. Exasperated with his scheming brood he would also constantly think of divorce so that he could marry again and start a new family with, hopefully, more obliging children. Does that sound like a story which is nearly a thousand years old? Certainly not. If you're not a Christmas type, if you're afraid of too much sweetness and harmony in your family during the holidays or if you wonder if there are other dysfunctional families like yours when you find them all together squabbling under the Christmas tree, I can recommend The Lion in Winter as an antidote. A wonderful film! Have a look at the trailer to get a feeling for it.