My 3 Sons Run Amok in the 12th Century

The Lion in Winter, is beautifully produced and well-acted, with dialogue that flies back and forth like punches in a prize fight. Its characters are all sadistic, ambitious, cruel schemers, but you cannot help loving them for their fire. It may be a 30-year-old movie, still leaves me weak.

The main characters are Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II of England, and their sons--Richard the Lionhearted, bad ol' John of Robin Hood days, and Geoffrey, the nearly-forgotten. Don't be lulled into thinking this is an historical drama, however; this is ultimately a story about aging, dysfunctional people who were once powerful, and now live only to hurt each other. The 12th century setting is simply an ornate frame. The dialogue is full of anachronisms, but it is so entertaining that we don't care.

Think of Amadeus--another brilliant play that used history, but had no real grounding in historical fact. Precious little is known about the later years of Eleanor, and almost nothing is recorded about her interactions with her sons. We have no evidence that the children were fighting for their share of Henry's kingdom, or that he promised inheritances to this one or that one, just to control his family. We should not, for a moment, think of this as history...and yet, few movies have molded historical settings so well. Costumes, colors, stone, countryside--all enhance the wintertime mood for the movie.

The Lion in Winter's schizophrenic use of history should not appeal to me. I love history and detest Hollywood's tendency to play fast and lose with facts in order to create mass audience appeal. But it just doesn't seem to matter here--in The Lion in Winter, the play's the thing, and the play is brilliant.

Everything in this movie revolves around split-second timing and dynamic dialogue. Katherine Hepburn won an oscar for playing Eleanor of Aquitaine, and she is wonderful, vile and pathetic all at once. Ultimately, though, this play it is driven by its passionate repartee. Every scene and every performance depends on that. Even though the pace is slowed down a bit from the stage play, giving us more moments to pause and look at the scenery, this is a quick, busy drama.

Only one character seems truly human, with any feelings of kindness--Henry's mistress. Interestingly, she is the weakest person, a self-admitted pawn. We don't dislike her, we just don't care much about her. It is the absolute, shocking selfishness of every other person-- kings, queens and princes--that is so fascinating and entertaining.

As the King of France says to Henry, "you played...you beat him down...and then you made him love you for it." In this movie, we watch as every character is attacked, beaten down, and then attacks in his/her turn--and we love them for it. This is dysfunction you can revel in.