The Lion In Winter
I loved this 1968 movie for dozens of reasons. It starred
Peter O'Toole,
Katharine Hepburn,
John Castle,
Anthony Hopkins,
Jane Merrow,
Timothy Dalton and
Nigel Terry; that's seven of them for starters. O'Toole portrays
Henry II, Hepburn was a perfect
Eleanor of Aquitaine and Hopkins (
his film debut) was brilliant as
Richard the Lionheart. The film was made great by the performances of these actors.
The Plot
(from IMDb)
The story line takes place on Christmas, 1183. An aging and conniving
King Henry II plans a reunion
at
Chinon,
France, for a family Christmas
where he hopes to name his successor. He summons the following people
for the holiday: his scheming but imprisoned wife,
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; his
three sons (
Richard,
Geoffrey, and
John), all of whom desire the throne; his mistress,
Princess Alais, whom he wishes to marry, and the young but crafty
King Philip II of
France (brother of Alais). Philip is insisting Alais marries John (one of the brothers) as agreed years
before or else he wants her dowry and the lands of the
Vexen (
France) returned. As Eleanor
has already given the province of
Aquitaine (also in
France) to Richard, the outcome of
this may decide the future of England. With the fate of Henry's empire at stake, everybody present, except
perhaps Alais, are masters of double-dealing and deceit (
all vividly demonstrated in the movie trailer, link below).
Originally a stage play, the action is mostly in the dialogue of the characters. Each of the sons has some flaw that makes the
decision difficult, but the pair have spent their lives fighting for
position and even at the end can't stop. It could be a
lively Yuletide.
movie posters
The music
John Barry won an Academy Award for
The Lion in Winter in 1968. When
Barry scored the film, he was at the height of his popularity mainly for his
James Bond scores (and, to
a lesser extent, for his jazz band recordings). Director
Anthony Harvey let Barry create a score
that would change his image forever. The fact that the
grandiose style of Barry's score was unnecessary in the first place is what
makes it a classic. Left by the director and producer to compose whatever would
be appropriate for the film, Barry decided to write a dark, menacing, and
gothic
score, a style which cannot be classified with either his early jazzy works or
his later lush romances. He masterfully captured the brutal sounds of the
Middle Ages while still adhering to the domination of the
Catholic Church.
The
Main Title, with its majestic
trumpet and
trombone intro, goes into a fairly rapid beat, set by a
grand piano and
tympani, with orchestra. It has a
Carmina Burana feel to it. The
trumpets and
trombones return to herald an impending, . . something, then a chorus enters singing in
Latin for truly dramatic results. A nice piece of film scoring.
The music for Eleanor´s Arrival features a magnificent female and male chorus with orchestral backing.
Media Vita in Morte Sumus (In the Midst of Life We Are In Death) is quietly suspenseful with the chorus once more making an appearance.
Allons Gai Gai Gai features a gentle and beautiful male and female
A-capella melody.
We're Jungle Creatures, this, the finale music for the film, is anything but jungle-like. It starts quiet but slowly builds with French horns, trumpets and opulent chorus to a grand, climatic finale. A very nice finish.
(Links to music on YouTube below)
Tracklist:
Side 1:
1 Main Title - The Lion In Winter
2 Chinon - Eleanor's Arrival
3 Allons Gai Gai Gai
4 To The Chapel
5 The Christmas Wine (Lyrics By –
James Goldman)
Side 2:
1 God Damn You
2 To Rome
3 The Herb Garden
4 Eya, Eya, Nova Gaudia
5 How Beautiful You Make Me
6 Media Vita In Morte Sumus (In The Midst Of Life We Are In Death)
7 We're Jungle Creatures
Music links:
Main Title on
YouTube
Orchestral Suite on
YouTube
Media Vita in Morte Sumus (In the Midst of Life We Are In Death) on
YouTube
Allons Gai Gai Gai on
YouTube
We're Jungle Creatures on
YouTube
other links:
movie trailer on
YouTube
Anthony Hopkins remembers The lion in winter on
YouTube
full cast and credits of film on
imdb
Well, I guess this turned out to be more about the film than Peter O'Toole. But, you know, that's life. Hope your Christmas is not as stressful as it was for the characters in the movie.
Merry Christmas
Styrous® ~ December 15, 2013
~