The Lion in Winter 1968 123movies

Watch: The Lion in Winter 1968 123movies, Full Movie Online – It’s Christmas 1183, and King Henry II (Peter O’Toole) is planning to announce his successor to the throne. The jockeying for the crown, though, is complex. Henry has three sons and wants his boy Prince John (Nigel Terry) to take over. Henry’s wife, Queen Eleanor (Katharine Hepburn), has other ideas. She believes their son Prince Richard (Sir Anthony Hopkins) should be King. As the family and various schemers gather for the holiday, each tries to make the indecisive King choose his or her option..
Plot: Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.
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Ratings:

	7.9/10 Votes: 31,771
	90% | RottenTomatoes
	N/A | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 260 Popularity: 12.309 | TMDB

Reviews:

I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

The Lion in Winter is directed by Anthony Harvey and adapted to screenplay from his own play by James Goldman. It stars Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Merrow, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Stock and Nigel Terry. Music is by John Barry and cinematography by Douglas Slocombe.

1183 A.D.: King Henry II’s (Toole) three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won’t commit to a choice. His sons and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Hepburn), variously plot to force him into a choice – but he himself has is own agendas as well.

An utter lesson in theatrical tropes shifted to the screen with brilliant results. Set over the Christmas period, Henry II has called all the family together to the family castle in France, for what proves to be a blindingly sharp game of human chess.

Essentially it’s one giant family squabble of huge political importance, a conniving dynasty war that could shape history. The script sizzles with literate smarts and firey dialogue, with performances from the top draw, while costuming, set design and Barry’s melancholy score seal the deal for what is a true genre classic. 9/10

Katherine Hepburn is simply superb in this depiction of the truly dysfunctional relationship between Eleanor of Aquitaine, the estranged queen of England’s King Henry II and her spouse. Peter O’Toole reprises his characterisation from “Becket” (1964), and together they spar and spat with aplomb. Aided by a wonderful screenplay from James Goldman that is full of sarcasm, pith and some wonderfully effective (and brutal) put-downs, we play through this most bizarre of family dynamics. It all centres around a Christmas court for which the Queen is released from her Salisbury house arrest to join the couple’s three sons: the ambitious, but sexually ambiguous Richard (Anthony Hopkins), the King’s favourite, but pretty weak John (Nigel Terry) and the clever, silent-type, Geoffrey (a lovely, understated, effort from John Castle) at Chinon, where they will also be joined by the young and naive Philippe II, King of France (Timothy Dalton). Director Anthony Harvey now presents us with a stylish and quickly paced illustration of just how this devious, untrustworthy and potentially murderous family were prepared to conspire and manoeuvre to ensure who, eventually, succeed to the English throne. Hepburn and O’Toole have a distinct and effective chemistry between them. She has the best lines, I think, and delivers them with a razor sharp wit – you are never quite certain what either she, or her equally and skilfully manipulative husband are plotting as the sons prove to be pretty selfish, fickle and sometimes quite imbecilic. The film looks great, the sets and costumes are spot on and the whole thing offers an excellent appraisal of the antics of a collection of shrewd 12th century despots.

This film makes a great educational tool!
I am a high school history teacher, and I use this film to give students insight to the way Medieval kings, queens, and princes plotted and schemed with and against one another, how marriages were arranged with political motives, and how the relationships between these self-important royals shaped the history of the time. When I first introduced the films plot to my student, I was met with apathy and predisposed boredom, but they quickly were caught up in the intrigue and plot twists. At each major turn (an impromptu wedding, a surprise revelation about one of the character’s sexuality, etc.), the students were often literally gasping.

As for the film itself, I can not think of a movie with more solid acting from the headliners (O’Toole and Hepburn) to the other principal players (Hopkins, Dalton, Terry, and especially Castle), and even the other characters are well cast (Merrow as Alais is not especially solid, but she is at least adequate in her portrayal as “the only pawn” in this game of kings, queens, and knights).

It is, of course, not to be seen as wholly accurate historically, as it would be near impossible to achieve such for events that took place 800 years ago, but the major themes are true to form, and the film is wonderfully engrossing. Highly recommended!

A Glorious Royal Feud
After “A Man for All Seasons,” “The Lion in Winter” is perhaps the best costume drama that came out of the 1960s, a decade rife with them.

Peter O’Toole dons the garb of King Henry II for the second time in four years (see “Becket”) and commands the screen as ably as he always did. It’s not a command he’s allowed to take for granted though, because he has the life force of Katharine Hepburn playing his strong-willed wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Henry summons her from prison, and calls together also his sons, to decide the fate of his throne. The battle of wills and words that follows is juicy stuff, and you can tell O’Toole and Hepburn are having a divine time trading barbs and playing this eccentric couple, who hate each other even as they adore one another. It’s a very unique treatment of material that would otherwise just be one more story about royal intrigue and dirty dealings.

With a very young Anthony Hopkins as Richard III, providing us with a preview of the very fine actor he would become in his own right.

Grade: A

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 2 hr 14 min (134 min), 2 hr 17 min (137 min) (70 mm) (UK)
Budget 0
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated PG
Genre Biography, Drama, History
Director Anthony Harvey
Writer James Goldman
Actors Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins
Country United Kingdom, United States
Awards Won 3 Oscars. 16 wins & 18 nominations total
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints), Mono (35 mm prints)
Aspect Ratio 2.20 : 1 (70 mm prints) (Australian release) (1973 UK re-release), 2.35 : 1
Camera Panavision PSR R-200, Panavision C-Series Lenses
Laboratory N/A
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm (Eastman 50T 5251)
Cinematographic Process Panavision (anamorphic)
Printed Film Format 70 mm (blow-up), 35 mm