A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: The Lion in Winter (2003)

Date of original TV airing: 2003

Details:

Glenn Close (Eleanor of Aquitaine)

Andrew Howard (Richard)

John Light (Geoffrey)

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Philip)

Rafe Spall (John)

Patrick Stewart (King Henry II)

Yuliya Vysotskaya (Alais)

Director: Andrei Konchalovsky

Score: +

The Review: This play by James Goldman is one of my favorites, and the 1968 film version by Anthony Harvey with Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn is a masterpiece (the Academy agreed, with Hepburn receiving an Oscar for her performance); I would rank it a double-plus. With that version firmly embedded in my neurons, any new edition (made for TV or not) is sure to disappoint, even if technically sound and artistically good. Such is the case here.

The time is 1172-3, and "...we're barbarians!" Well, perhaps so in this edition, which seems much grittier and dirty than Harvey's version. It's time for Christmas court, time for Henry to trot out Eleanor for the season's festivities, which includes trading some exquisite dialog and lots of back-stabbing.

The background rebellion of several years earlier is more completely played on-stage, here, as a prologue, giving the audience clear evidence of Eleanor's support (and rationale for her imprisonment). Production values are reasonably high, but the staging, the music and the sparks are not quite up to snuff. Stewart is a strong Henry, but Close is a better Eleanor. Of the younger generation, Alais (newcomer Vysotskaya) seems the stronger, but Philip (Rhys-Meyers) is the cleverer -- indeed, he is the sole cast member that seems to perform better than their earlier counterparts.

(12-Dec-04)

Back to the chronological list of reviews