The Lion in Winter (2003)

King Henry II meets with Eleanor of Aquitaine at Christmastide 1183 to choose one of his sons as his successor.

Director:

Andrey Konchalovskiy (as Andrei Konchalovsky)

Writers:

James Goldman (play), James Goldman (teleplay)

Stars:

Glenn Close, Andrew Howard, Antal Konrád

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Glenn Close	...	Eleanor
Andrew Howard	...	Richard
Antal Konrád	...	Toastmaster
John Light	...	Geoffrey
Soma Marko	...	Young John
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Phillip
Rafe Spall	...	John
Patrick Stewart	...	Henry
Yuliya Vysotskaya	...	Alais
Clive Wood	...	William Marshall

Storyline

King Henry II (Patrick Stewart) keeps his wife, Eleanor (Glenn Close) locked away in the towers because of her frequent attempts to overthrow him. With Eleanor out of the way he can have his dalliances with his young mistress (Yuliya Vysotskaya). Needless to say the queen is not pleased, although she still has affection for the king. Working through her sons, she plots the king's demise and the rise of her second and preferred son, Richard (Andrew Howard), to the throne. The youngest son, John (Rafe Spall), an overweight buffoon and the only son holding his father's affection is the king's choice after the death of his first son, young Henry. But John is also overly eager for power and is willing to plot his father's demise with middle brother, Geoffrey (John Light) and the young king of France, Phillip (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Geoffrey, of course sees his younger brother's weakness and sees that route as his path to power. Obviously political and court intrigue ensues.

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Plot Keywords:

mistress | king henry ii | tv mini series | knife fight | dungeon | 

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Taglines:

A fearsome father. A scheming mother. Three sons battling for attention. (DVD)

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Leão no Inverno

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flying Freehold Productions,HCC Happy Crew Company,Hallmark Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patrick Stewart also played Henry's son, Richard the Lionheart, in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

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Goofs

Eleanor refers to syphilis in one of her speeches, an impossibility in 1183 England. Syphilis was not named such until 1530 by Hieronymus Fracastorius. Regardless of whether Europe even had the disease prior to 1200, it could not have been known by that name to the Queen.

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Quotes

Geoffrey: I know.
Geoffrey: You know I know.
Geoffrey: I know you know I know.
Geoffrey: We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it.
Geoffrey: We're a knowledgeable family.

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Connections

Featured in The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (2005)

User Reviews

Worth seeing, some parts better than the original

I enjoyed this. Though not quite up to the standard of the original it was still much better than many films. The script is still fast and witty. The production quality is not so high, they obviously did not have the same kind of budget as last time which shows occasionally in the sound and music quality. But this does not spoil ones enjoyment.

Prince John was not acted as well as last time but Henry's mistress (can't remember her name) was much better. In the original I could not see why Henry would be so taken by her - this girl was much more fascinating. The scenes between Henry (Patrick) and her were convincing.

I thought Patrick Stewart and Glen Close hit sparks off one another.

I could believe in these two as ex-husband and wife.

The French King was very different from the Timothy Dalton version but good in his own way.

Worth seeing and interesting to compare it with the original.