The Lion in Winter1968
The Lion in Winter (1968)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Sharper and wittier than your average period piece, The Lion in Winter is a tale of palace intrigue bolstered by fantastic performances from Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and Anthony Hopkins in his big-screen debut.
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Movie Info
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Cast
as Eleanor Of Aquitaine
as Henry II
as Richard
as Alais
as Geoffrey
as King Philip of France
as William Marshall
as John

as Bishop of Durham
as Strolling Player

as Strolling Player

as Eleanor's Guard

as Strolling Player

as Strolling Player

as Strolling Player
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Critic Reviews for The Lion in Winter
All Critics (35) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (3) | DVD (4)
All that's ever mattered about The Lion in Winter are Hepburn and O'Toole, and the pleasure we take from watching two masters inspire each other to greatness. Scenery chewing has rarely been so artful.

Henry and Eleanor are reduced to a TV-sized version of the sovereigns next door, their epic struggle shrunk to sitcom squabbles.

James Goldman's screenplay, so chic and sophisticated to the ears of suburbanites, is chock-full of the worst kind of sophomoric fiddling with what Goldman takes to be genuine highfalutin lingo.

An intense, fierce, personal drama put across by outstanding performances of Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn.
Director Anthony Harvey opened up Goldman's play into authentic spaces far from any proscenium, and remained faithful to an energetic drama propelled by its performances and dialogue.
Harvey's direction is intelligent enough, though the reduction of power struggles to fits of personal pique -- where the fate of nations hangs in the balance -- becomes a little irritating. Enjoyable for its two lead performances, however.

Audience Reviews for The Lion in Winter
wonderful war of words among masters.

Super Reviewer
King Henry II invites his estranged wife and three children to celebrate Christmas with his mistress, and the three sons vie for the throne. Only slightly better than the remake, this classic film, for which Katharine Hepburn won the Best Actress Oscar, is more fast-paced and sharply executed. Writer James Goldman's sharp wit, including such lines as "Quiet, darling, Mummy's fighting" and "If I was on fire, no one would pee on me to put me out" "Let's strike a flint and see," becomes clearer when put in the hands of such technically savvy actors are Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, and Anthony Hopkins. But as with the remake, I struggled to understand what the backbone of this film is beyond family melodrama. There were a few moments when, looking at Hepburn's world-weary, tear-stained face, I thought that it was bemoaning the ravages of age, and indeed, this is the best that I can come up with, but I can't understand how this theme interacts with the political plot. Overall, like the Stewart/Close version, Lion in Winter is fun to watch, and even though I hate Hepburn normally, I found her performance compelling here.

Super Reviewer
Riveting. Dialogue of razor-sharp wit, layers of motives and intimate revalations, and captivating performances. Can't find a modern movie with dialogue this smart.
Super Reviewer
The Lion in Winter Quotes
Eleanor Of Aquitaine: | I rode bare-breasted all the way to Damascus. Louis was livid and I damn near died of windburn, but the troops were dazzled. |
Eleanor Of Aquitaine: | I'd hang you from the nipples, but you'd shock the children. |
Eleanor Of Aquitaine: | In a world were carpenters get resurrected anything is possible |
Eleanor Of Aquitaine: | In a world were carpenters get resurrected, anything is possible. |
Eleanor Of Aquitaine: | Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It's 1183 and we're barbarians! How clear we make it. Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war: not history's forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can't we love one another just a little - that's how peace begins. We have so much to love each other for. We have such possibilities, my children. We could change the world. |