Apologies for getting this thread up a little late but at least everyone had a few extra days to watch the movie. Anyways, let us all know your thoughts and opinions on The Lion in Winter!
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The thing I love best about Lion in Winter is the mundanity of it. I mean, these are some of the most noteworthy people in English history and what we're shown is, at core, petty familial bickering over the holidays cast against truly humungous scale. It serves to make everyone more human, everything more relatable and the overall scope of history more approachable. The dialog is absolutely crackling, too, and delivered by absolute monsters of the stage. Can you imagine being Anthony Hopkins or Timothy Dalton, up against Peter O'Toole and Kate Hepburn, without knowing you'd someday be Anthony Hopkins or Timothy Dalton? Something not immediately obvious is that the shot that introduces Geoffrey was crazy special effects of the day. Zoom lenses were still pretty avant garde at the time and that particular shot slams from absolute longest to absolute shortest. It's kind of amazing considering the state of the art in 1968.
Regarding that shot of Geoffrey, that shot along with others in the movie made me wonder if the Monty Python film Holy Grail, was stealing from this one a bit? Was it meant to be an homage? It just felt really visually familiar to me because of the Holy Grail. Anyways, as for the film, it was wonderful. I absolutely loved the scenes between Peter O'Toole and the young French King. Also, given the time this came out, it deals with homosexuality quite a bit, and it had to of been really taboo back then. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but this may be the first time I have ever seen a Katherine Hepburn film. She was absolutely amazing! Wonderful!!
You mean Peter O'Toole and James Fucking Bond? Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Now go watch African Queen.I absolutely loved the scenes between Peter O'Toole and the young French King.
I'm embarrassed to admit this, but this may be the first time I have ever seen a Katherine Hepburn film.
I thought he looked familiar. .I'll definitely watch the African Queen, thanks for the suggestion. She was extremely captivating in this film, whenever she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Honestly, I've never experienced anything like that. What a talent. I looked up her career on Wikipedia and while I already knew it was distinguished and that she was held in such high regard, I hadn't realized just how much she dominated the industry and for how long. She was a badass.
We tried to watch it twice and twice fell asleep even though it was not even close to bedtime. We spent a lot of time discussing their headwear and the massive amount of zooms in the opening scenes. "Please. Stop zooming. Please for the love of OMG YOU WEREN'T EVEN DONE WITH THE LAST ZOOM!" I wish I could contribute more. I actually had time and tried to watch and participate in this movie club. No luck. Ah well.