The Lion in Winter

1968
PG
2h 14m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

35K

YOUR RATING

Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter (1968)

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3 Videos

99+ Photos

Period Drama Biography Drama History

1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they... Read all1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

35K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 3 Oscars
- 16 wins & 18 nominations total

Videos3

The Lion in Winter - 4K Restoration Trailer

Photos148

+ 142

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Katharine Hepburn bested Peter O'Toole as the top dog on the set. Known to be something of a tyrant on most of his shoots, O'Toole meekly obliged, when she told him, "Peter, stop towering over me. Come and sit down and try to look respectable." O'Toole readily admitted in her presence that she reduced him "to a shadow of my former gay-dog self. She is terrifying. It is sheer masochism working with her. She has been sent by some dark fate to nag and torment me." Her reply: "Don't be so silly. We are going to get on very well. You are Irish, and you make me laugh. In any case, I am on to you, and you to me."

Goofs
Christmas trees were a somewhat obscure German tradition, introduced to the British royal family, and, by extension, England, by Queen Charlotte. It was not commonly decorated in English homes until the introduction of this custom by Prince Albert. Even the concept of using glass balls was unknown to Germans until long after the 12th century.

Quotes
John: A knife! He's got a knife!
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It's 1183 and we're barbarians! How clear we make it. Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war: not history's forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can't we love one another just a little - that's how peace begins. We have so much to love each other for. We have such possibilities, my children. We could change the world.

Alternate versions
A 70mm version was released in Australia in 1969, and in the UK in 1973.

Connections
Featured in Precious Images (1986)

User reviews217

Review

Featured review

10/10

Possibly the best dialogue ever written for a film... ever.

I love this film. I love this film. I am not sure that I can say that phrase enough when describing this movie. Lion in Winter is quite simply one of the strangest and most beautiful movies that I have ever seen. It is some wierd amalgam of a 'home for the hollidays' type family drama, and Machiavellian political intrigue.

The essential plot is that it is 1183 and Henry II must declare his successor to the Plantagenet throne. He invites his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (played by Katherine Hepburn), who is in exile, and his sons to along with king of France, to Christmas dinner. Over the course of the evening truths are told and arguments are had, the film rolls over all of the conventions of the many genres that it plays with and turns them into something new and beautiful.

The film could have been written by Machiavelli himself, and often smacks of the Mandragola. The film demonstrates family disfunction within a very interesting, medieval paradigm. While the film is about issues such as family, loyalty and love, ultimately is most gratifying as a vehicle for O'Toole and Hepburn to chew the scenery and dig into a few truly juicy roles.

It is fantastic film that any lover of dialogue driven drama-comedy should rent and watch over and over again.