British royalty is full of fascinating tales of power, conspiracies, distrust, and greed. They make such great characters that actors relish the opportunities to play them, sometimes even playing the same character more than once. Peter O’Toole certainly jumped at the chance when he read the script for The Lion in Winter based on the play. Having already played Henry II in Beckett a few years earlier, he seemed eager to dig back into the king’s life with this film. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue celebrating films from 1968 celebrating their 50th anniversaries with a new series looking at the films that were nominated for Best Picture that year. How well do they hold up? Are they still relevant? Dated? Or boring? We kick this new series off with Anthony Harvey’s 1968 film The Lion in Winter.
We talk about the the messy world of this royal family and how angry everyone seems to be all the time. We look at elements of the film that immerse us fully in the world – the sets, the costumes, the production design – and those that pull us out, reminding us we’re in the 60s – those awful zooms. We chat about the wonderful – and wonderfully big – performances of O’Toole, Katherine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, and more. And we touch on how much of this story is fiction versus fact, and if that helps or hurts the film.
It’s an interesting film with some powerhouse performances that certainly provides lots of fodder for a conversation, so check it out then tune in to this week’s show! The Next Reel – when the movie ends, our conversation begins.
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