The Lion in Winter

This splendid picture is set in Christmas 1183 , the medieval monarch Henry II (Patrick Stewart who also played Henry's son, Richard the Lionheart , in Robin Hood : Men in thighs , 1993) finds surrounded by astute and ambitious relatives who want to regain politic and egoistic rewards . The king pretends announce his heir and he invites his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Glenn Close) imprisoned by conspiracy , there also comes the mean King Philip II of France (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) . Both of whom confront wits over the succession to the English throne and much else . The heir election between the three sons , the valiant Richard (Howard) , the opportunist Geoffrey (Light) and the the vain , useless John (Spall) to be originated intrigues , blackmails and hates . The grown brothers are fraught with tension , rapidly changing alliances and completed with a cutting edge psychological manipulation . In spite of possession a kingdom spread all Great Britain and halve France , there's one thing which Henry II never could to control : his own family .

The film is inspired by true events , thus occurred certainly the sons' rebellion incited by Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine for the marriage to King Henry II inherited the occidental France ; however , the coup failed and Henry ordered her entry into a convent but she was freed when died Henry and then Richard Lionheart was crowned until the third crusade (intervening along with Philip II and Richard conquered Acre) when was crowned John with no Land . This English domain over France will cause an overlong conflict known as ¨Hundred Years War¨ (1339-1453) . Besides , there appears famous knight William Marshall (Clive Wood) and is mentioned the enemy archbishop Thomas Becket whom ordered to kill (played in previous film by Richard Burton and again Henry II performed by Peter O'Toole) . Besides , Philip Augustus II Capeto (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who truly combated Henry II and his sons Richard and John whom defeated in Bouvines(1214) battle .

This television movie is an excellent costumer drama with superb dialog and magnificently characterized medieval roles . Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close make triumphant characterizations . This is a brilliantly script-written picture , being rendered from his own play by James Goldman . The atmospheric and spectacular musical score being magnificently composed by Richard Hartley . Sensational production design by Roger Hall . The film was well directed by Andrei Konchalovsky (Siberiada). The flick will appeal to medieval drama buffs and historical cinema enthusiasts .

Setting aside the question of 'Why do we need a remake of an almost perfect original?' I was very pleased with this movie. Credit it, if you will, to Stewart's resonant, commanding voice, but I thought he more than held his own against O'Toole's Henry. Less pomp, more circumstance. Regarding Eleanor, well - nothing could ever top the great Kate's performance in the original movie. Considering the impossibility of doing so, though, I have to say that Glenn Close did a more than admirable job with the role. Indeed, in a couple of scenes – when she was talking but the camera wasn't on her face – you could almost imagine you were hearing Hepburn! Overall, Close's Eleanor was less bitter and acerbic than Hepburn's, but it was still a most valid interpretation of the character. Re: the sons - I didn't care much for Howard's interpretation of Richard – more smarmy posturing rather than the Machiavellian swagger of entitlement that I feel the part calls for (i.e., Anthony Hopkins' portrayal.) But, the characters of Geoffrey and John were cast better in this one, in my opinion, than in the original. Rafe Spall played John's blithering, namby-pamby, spoiled brat to perfection. Also, the sets were wonderful! Big thumbs up.

It's refreshing to see a new take on a familiar work. But when the original is a legend, the new interpretation often seems wanting. So it is with this `Lion in Winter.' You want it to succeed, but…you hear the actors speak their lines, & ache for the brilliant readings of the earlier film. You respect capable actors like Close & Stewart, but yearn for the inspired pyrotechnics of Hepburn and O'Toole. All actors admirably give performances quite distinct from those of the '68 film-but only Jonathan Rhys-Meyers gives one at least as impressive as his earlier counterpart. His spoiled, manipulative, bisexual man-boy is a fascinating Philip.

This `Lion in Winter' is enjoyable, but pales in inevitable comparison to the first version. If nothing else, it will make you treasure its superb predecessor all the more.

Why did these people have to go to Hungary to make this film? The whole thing appears to have been shot in some studio with leftover sets and costumes from some episode of the original Star Trek where they were transported back to medieval times. Everything looks like its made of styrofoam. Hey, they even put a dog in it to make it look gritty and realistic.

I do love Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close, and so I can only conclude that the director made them act the way they did. Neither of them has any teeth! Stewart snarls now and then, but nobody's *really* too worried about him. His Henry is ho-hum, OK, nothing to write home about, but what went wrong with Glenn Close? Her reading of this role is just weird. There are lines she delivers that just don't make sense when coupled with her face or tone. KH communicated all these subtle shifts with a lift of an eyebrow; Eleanor was agile as a cat, but GC emotes so promiscuously, you'd think Dr. Phil was behind a tapestry. Her Eleanor is schizy, and has nobody fooled. That odor of desperation is just wrong for this character. It feels like she combined Fatal Attraction with Mel Gibson's Hamlet's Gertrude to come up with this Eleanor. Wrong. I can't think of a role with more meat for a good actress to bite into. Why so far off the mark? Oh well.

The other players are not memorable enough for me to recall; they all played everything on one note.

If I was going to bother remaking a classic movie like this, I would have put the effort into it to use an appropriate location in France, get the costumes right, and give the actors some intelligent direction.

It's been a long time since I saw the "original" (film, that is), but I think this version stands up very well. The script, of course, is sumptuous, and the actors clearly enjoy themselves with it. The production also seems less stagey than what I remember of the 1968 version, something which is often difficult to achieve on the small screen.

For me, Glenn Close's Eleanor was superb - possibly even better than Hepburn's; but I'd have to see the original again to make sure. She interprets the transitions between scheming power-broker, desolate prisoner and wistful "ex" with a naturalness that I don't remember in the original, yet somehow still manages to deliver the comic lines (and there are plenty) with the timing of a master. And there were only a couple of occasions when I detected any hint of Hepburn's shadow.

As for Henry: I like Patrick Stewart a lot, but I'm not sure this was his role. He's always seemed a little brittle when it comes to passion; and if there's one thing Henry was, it was passionate. There are also times when he comes across as declamatory (probably the Shakespearean training) and, while O'Toole could probably be accused of the same thing, I missed his energy. It's also plain that he is older than Close, when in fact Henry was 11 years younger than Eleanor (and that was a lot in those days). That said, he makes a good fist of it; and some of the exchanges between the two of them are memorable.

Where this production really scores though is in its drawing of the smaller characters. I hardly even remember what the sons were like in the original, but here they all have distinct personas; with Andrew Howard's Richard the standout. Rafe Spall even manages to flesh out the character of John - by James Goldman's own admission, the worst written of all of them - and John Light's unloved, Machiavellian Geoffrey is perfectly believable. Johnathan Rhys-Myers' ambivalent Philip also hints at the savvy of a man who would go on to become one of France's greatest kings. Only Yuliya Vysotskaya, as Alys, seemed slightly weak - too timid for a princess of France for me - but that probably has more to do with the script than anything.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for historical drama, but I thought this was an excellent (and brave, considering the original) effort at depicting two of the most powerful and interesting figures of their time.

9/10