The Lion in Winter
by Andrey Konchalovskiy
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andrew Howard, Antal Konrád, Glenn Close, John Light, Soma MarkoDirector: Andrey Konchalovskiy
Brand: Lions Gate
Producer: Patrick Stewart
Producer: Dyson Lovell
Producer: Martin Poll
Producer: Paul Lowin
Producer: Robert Halmi Jr.
Producer: Robert Halmi Sr.
Producer: Vicki Letizia
Producer: Wendy Neuss
Writer: James Goldman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 153 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-07-20
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of The Lion in Winter
Movie Review: The Lion In Winter
Summary: 5 Stars
As much as I struggled to see this 2004 production without comparing it to the 1960's classic which starred Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Terry, and Timothy Dalton, the shade of the earlier, better film kept intruding into my thoughts, so let me get the comparisons out of the way here in the beginning. Yes, the `60's version of The Lion In Winter is the better of the two movies, though I also rate this `00's version five stars and don't hesitate to recommend it as an addition to anyone's DVD library. It's a fine, artsy, stunning piece of witty drama that depicts the murderous side of the an irreparably dysfunctional nuclear family, circa 1183 AD.
That out of the way, let me say that the 2004 film was far more visually colorful than its ancestor, its sets grander, the twelfth-century more detailed, the recreation of the high era of the Age of Faith was notably loving in the hands of its superb crew. This motion picture was as gorgeous to look at as it was to watch. (Meaning the human cast often took bottom billing to the sheer might and intricacy of the setting.) If only the actors had held up their end as well, this might have done the near-impossible and surpassed all recent on-screen presentations of the Medieval world.
Sadly, the weakness lies in The Lion in Winter's casting and acting. Patrick Stewart, a masterful thespian with a commanding voice, a great actor under most circumstances, was, I'm astonished to see myself write, among the most glaring trouble spots in the presentation. Stewart was simply wrong as Henry II. He chose to portray England's most volatile king with a light, comedic merriness that delivered a great man as an unbelievable braggart. And though no Hepburn, Glenn Close was also sub-par as Eleanor, yet I found her a better match for her part than Patrick Stewart was as Henry II. And was it just me or did it often seem Close was trying to give her best Hepburn impression in this role? Better a good Close than a bad Hepburn, as an acting coach might say.
A cast member I did enjoy watching was Julia Vysotsky, as Alyse, sister of the king of France, mistress of Henry, the father of her one-time betrothed. Vysotsky is a lovely Russian actress who did a French accent well and played her part with the right mix of delicate vulnerability and covert viciousness, one moment decrying her circumstances as a pawn in the game of politics, the next urging Henry to exterminate his sons then and there on Christmas Day. Male viewers, lesbians, and assorted connoisseurs of the female form will be pleasantly surprised at her topless scene and find it a plus that it came so close to the start of the movie.
The one person I truly wish had not been in this movie at all is Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, as King Philippe Auguste. I have liked this actor well enough in other roles, notably the one in Woody Allen's Match Point, but here Rhys-Meyers plays one of France's great monarchs while looking like some sort of post-modern Jesus and acting like a present-day Hollywood enfant terrible. The way he repeatedly releases his seething "take-me-seriously-damn-you" anger makes him seem bratty and silly, unlike Timothy Dalton's handling of the part in the 1960's production with his frigidly contained hatred of the Plantagenet's being a distantly frightening thing to behold. Rhys-Meyers did have a brilliant moment, however, when he is seen smugly chuckling to himself from his chair across the great hall of Chinon as he watches Richard and John, two future kings, bickering over who will succeed their still-living father, and one can all but read Phillipe's mind as his notions of Gallic superiority are once more reinforced. In witnessing the pettiness of the two rivals, Philippe becomes all the more certain that to attain his eventual victory over England, all he need do is outlive Henry, and wait...
Another brief but impressive moment unique to this version of The Lion In Winter came early on when the camera panned back from a by then emptying great hall to show Henry's crown lying alone on a table, and it was striking how up close the object of so much ambition looked like such a small battered thing unworthy of all the fuss over it, as if someone somewhere was commenting on what a paltry thing a kingship is.
A final, smarmy note is that the cast of the 2004 Lion In Winter was nearly all English, and I expect this was made so in order to lend a certain authenticity to a story set among feuding claimants to the English throne, and yet the irony is if authenticity was sought, French accents might have been more apt, since Henry, Eleanor, and their sons, including the fabled Richard the Lionhearted of Robin Hood fame, were all French, not English, and even the setting for the play, Chinon Castle, is in France, near the Loire River. (And still standing to this day.)
The 2004 version of The Lion In Winter stands well on its own but suffers in comparison to its predecessor. It's worth the long run time and contains some nice moments. It's visually appealing and in a few moments does get a little boring, but I think anyone who loves this ingenious story and the period in which it's set will quickly forgive these flaws. I'm glad it was made, and I'm glad I got to see it after having it on my list for several years.
Summary of The Lion in Winter
LION IN WINTER - DVD MovieSchemes and double-crosses abound in The Lion in Winter, the story of England's King Henry II (Patrick Stewart, Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men) as he manipulates (and is counter-manipulated) by his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction), and their three ambitious sons, each of whom hopes to ascend to the throne. The ghost of the 1968 film version hangs over this 2003 miniseries; Stewart and Close can't match Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn in that classic. Nonetheless this new version is solid work, and though the witty dialogue verges into camp, the script's cunningly orchestrated machinations work like a charm, drawing the viewer in with every fiendish ploy and overturned expectation. Also featuring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Velvet Goldmine, Bend It Like Beckham) as the King of France. --Bret Fetzer
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