In 1966, the play A Lion in Winter was a hit on Broadway, earning a Tony for Rosemary Harris and a nomination for Robert Preston, not forgetting a prominent role for a young Christopher Walken.
Literally more than 40 years before the Game of Thrones fever, spending two hours watching the political strategies to discuss the succession of the British throne served as a preview of what the public would devour later. Historical figures imagined in a Christmas from hell, with agile text and true facts. Unmissable.
Naturally, the cinema jumped at the chance to retell James Goldman‘s fascinating text and the film was ready in 1968. The cast included the big star, Katherine Hepburn, and the most recently famous actor, Peter O’Toole. Incredible, right?
Critics didn’t agree, but only at the time. Having turned History into a drama was seen as “novelizing” facts, and, even more so, focusing the script on intense verbal discussions between family members was seen as simplifying a more complex situation. The public thought otherwise: so much so that it raised 5 times its budget, surpassing the 20 million dollar mark. And, to top it off, it earned Katherine her third Oscar for Best Actress. Her performance, in fact, is nothing short of spectacular.
The Lion in Winter imagines Christmas Eve in 1183, in Chinon, when Henry II of England, having lost his heir, has to define the line of succession again and decides to do so during a family gathering. At this point, he and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, are barely on speaking terms and she is under house arrest. Of the three surviving children, he prefers the youngest, John, but Eleanor prefers Richard (later known as the Lionheart). To make matters worse, Henry would have to announce the engagement of the French princess, Alais, as Richard’s bride, but at that point, the young woman is already the King’s lover. To make matters worse, Alais’s brother, the King of France, Philip, also exerts pressure to recover French territory that belongs to the English.
Doesn’t that sound like Christmas in Casterly Rock?
But back to the play and the film: in the film’s cast there are two ‘newcomers’, Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton. Timothy had such an impact that he was immediately invited to join the James Bond franchise, which he refused and only took on the role of 007 around 20 years later.
Timothy Dalton and Anthony Hopkins deal with the most controversial moment of the entire play – and film – as the text reinforces the theory that Richard and Philip were lovers, something that some historians accept as fact and others still consider gossip. Really?
Be that as it may, the film ends before the rebellion in which Richard and Philip unite against Henry is successful, and the defeated king retreats to Chinon, in Anjou, where he dies. Richard the Lionheart succeeds Henry II, staying only six months on English soil before leaving for the Crusades, without being able to retake Jerusalem. John succeeded him in 1199, but he was an unsuccessful king, so much so that he entered another popular story as the villain in the legends of Robin Hood.
It’s worth seeking out and seeing the film, whose period inspired George R. R. Martin to imagine Westeros. A great film for those who appreciate Theater, good writing, and History.
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