It is 1183 AD. King Henry II is growing old. His three sons all vie for throne, but a conflict of interests makes his successor uncertain. This Christmas Eve his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine is released from her castle/prison for the holiday, but a family battle years in the making will threaten to tear the family apart.
There are many such family dispute films--look at the work of Tennessee Williams or "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"--but very few are as incredibly good as this one is. My notes for this film became progressively more illegible as the film went on an I became sucked into the frantic and venomous nature of the piece. Because of my writing turned into nonsensical scribbling the rest of this will be written from memory and emotion.
Peter O'Toole plays Henry opposite Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor. Such electric acting would be hard to find elsewhere. There relationship is one of swords and daggers of the tongue; there is little love to be found, similar to "Virginia Woolf" and yet they do love each other. But jealousy, resentment and an almost masochistic love of feeling the wounds inflicted by each other drowns any visible affection in cruelty and cunning manipulation.
They have three sons: the eldest, Richard (Anthony Hopkins in his first film role), is Eleanor's pick and the model of masculinity--save for one flaw which I won't mention, but let's say that it is rather medieval. Henry's pick is the youngest, John (Nigel Terry), a sniveling, pimply, sixteen year old who apparently smells like compost. And then there is the middle child, Geoffrey (John Castle), a cold, calculating young man with no love but for harnessing power.
As the evening wears on these three become pawns for the great minds of Henry and Eleanor who are so learned in the science of verbal destruction. The boys do their best to influence the politics of the family in their favor, either using each other as weapons or others like Phillip II of France (Timothy Dalton), but in the end the skill of their parents is more than enough a match for them.
This is more than a typical costume drama particularly focusing on the ways in which it tackles certain sexual elements of the material as well as the sheer amount of acting talent blistering its way across the screen. James Goldman adapted his play for the screen with enough force to leave me breathless. The nature of the work would tend to have it lean towards drama which it did, but the power of the characters and the ugly way which they interact with one another would make it almost too draining to watch. Goldman, then, has done a magnificent job in providing just enough comedy (and extremely good comedy at that) to break what would otherwise be relentless tension and attack. My favorite line in the film has Eleanor placing a gold chain next to her breasts. She says, "I'd hang you from the nipples, but you'd shock the children."
The way this film's tremendous cast tackles this incredible script is nothing short of exemplary. Particularly Hepburn, who tied Barbara Streisand for her third Oscar, turns a tremendous role as a queen with no power, locked away by her husband, and who has no other pleasure in life than to see that Henry doesn't get what he wants. The way she navigates through the huge emotional shifts of her character is stunning and is, in my opinion, her best work.
Her skill is met with nearly equal ferocity by O'Toole, whose Henry II is both violently masculine as well as damaged and frightened. Hopkins must be given special praise for having a particularly crucial and unusual role to play, and the fact that he was playing opposite the greatest actress of all time as a complete newcomer to film is worth recognition. The rest of the cast is more than ably performed, but they are drowned in the presence of Hepburn and O'Toole.
For a family drama this is directed with incredible skill keeping the audience centered on the large amount of dialogue and grand yet nuanced performances. This film should not be missed by anyone who has a genuine love of film and the artistry of performance. The expert way in which this dense play is realized makes it a great love of mine.
4/4
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