Review of The Lion in Winter (1968) by Brian T — 26 Jan 2009

I liked this movie's energy. Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn portray King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine as creatures of raw instinct and passion. The acerbic verbal feuds between the two begin as amusing, often turn annoying, but eventually just cause the two characters to devlove into pitiful depravity.

The movie ends on an upswing, though, with the two channeling their raw, instinctive energy into a kind of hope. Knowing that such bitter family squabbles will affect the futures of entire countries, though, turns the film into a kind of political commentary on the nature of era (or was it the burden of absolute power that turned relationships so bitter?).