Review of The Lion in Winter (1968) by Aj V — 21 Nov 2010

The Lion in Winter tells a tale of English King, Henry II excelently portrayed by P.O'Toole who is growing old and must decide his heir. His three sons however each have their pros and cons but none of them is strictly speaking a favor for the throne. Throw into the mix the devious Queen, played by K.Hepburn, and the mix is set.

The whole movie can be descibed as a giant big melodramatic web of schemes and backstabbings where each main character plays a never ending power game for the English throne. This generates an entertaining athmosphere of deception and plotting where each character can no longer tell who is cincere and who is not. The game has gone on for so long that none of the characters can stop it even if they wanted to.

Being more of a theaterical act, the movie naturally rests heavily on the shoulders of the actors who certainly do not dissapoint. Each actor portrays their characters in a very convincing and lively manner. The crown of acting is taken by P.O'Toole without any questions who pulls a magnificent role as the paranoid king. The other actors are close on the kings heels so to speak, the young A.Hopkins already shows his skill as one of the princes and other main actors give better than average performances.

The movie could have been a tad shorter, the back and forth scheming grows somewhat tiring towards the end. Clearly the movie is not for everyone, but if one enjoys a good theaterical act and do not mind the somewhat over the top acting the Lion in Winter surely will not disappoint.