The Ritual Master Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. Today we’re teleporting ourselves to the Christmas of 1183, in the fortress town of Chinon, not with a book for once, but with a film.The 1968 historical drama The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn as Aliénor of Aquitaine and Peter O’Toole as Henry II of England.
The movie is based on the 1966 play by American James Goldman, who sadly was not a great hit on Broadway when it opened. The play is a work of historical fiction : there are no records of a Christmas Court at Chinon in 1183, but the events leading up to the story are generally accurate. Fifty year old Henri seeks to establish a line of succession and summons his family for Christmas at his castle in Chinon. He wants his youngest son, John, to inherit his throne, while his estranged wife, reprieved from imprisonment in England by Henry for the holiday, favours their eldest surviving son, Richard, a proven warrior. The presence of Philip II, king of France, complicates matters as to the status of his half-sister, living at Henri’s court as his mistress, while officially betrothed to Richard.
You can sense the play in each chapter of the film, viewers who are less familiar with theater or the younger audience who doesn’t have the background of older movies might feel the rhythm weighing them down a little. I think the motivation behind watching a film has radically changed between 1968 and 2024. And historical adaptations represent a niche with a very specific code. This might explain the black or white reviews of the time, you either loved it or hated it. I find the review of Roger Ebert perfectly in line with my perception of the film : One of the joys which movies provide too rarely is the opportunity to see a literate script handled intelligently. ‘The Lion in Winter’ triumphs at that difficult task; not since ‘A Man for All Seasons’ have we had such capable handling of a story about ideas. But ‘The Lion in Winter’ also functions at an emotional level, and is the better film, I think.
Nominated for 7 Academy Awards and winner of 3, this was the third Oscar for Katharine Hepburn, and will remain for me, her most memorable role. Her Aliénor is a reference, the strength and the vulnerability combined in the same powerful gaze. She was 60 years old at the time of filming, perfectly prepared to incarnate the symbol of an era, the decisive woman of state, the calculating mother and the woman in love despite her better judgment. I suppose that part wasn’t that difficult to act, having Peter O’Toole by her side. With 25 years between them, they kept the symbolic age difference between Henry and his wife, and managed to bring to life legends almost forgotten.
Take this as an invitation to revisit a classic this holiday season, there is a double time travel experience to be enjoyed beside your popcorn. Until tomorrow, Merry Advent !
