“Of course he’s got a knife. He always has a knife. We ALL have knives. It’s 1183 and we’re barbarians!”
– Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Lion in Winter
“I could have conquered Europe, but I had women in my life.”
– Henry II, the Lion in Winter
My wife shakes her head, but this is still one of my favorite movies.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXs60oA4Bds]
The sets, the costumes, the atmosphere are all 1183. My favorite cultural detail – Henry, first thing in the morning, in his bedroom, breaks the ICE on the bucket of water in order to wash his face. Instant reality check for those who think life in a medieval castle was glamorous or luxurious.
Watched it again today, with several of the daughters. Film note: Includes the film debuts of both Timothy Dalton (King Philip of France) and Anthony Hopkins (Richard the Lion-Hearted). Also of note, when the film was shot in 1968, Katherine Hepburn was 61 years old, the exact age of Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1183. Peter O’Toole was only 36 at the time, but does a good job of playing Henry II as if he were 50. Hepburn won the Oscar for best actress for her performance. O’Toole was nominated for best actor for his.
-Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
Greetings, Mr. Shearer,
I just caught up with your “Lion in Winter” blog. If you would like to discover more ascerbic speech from the tongue of Eleanor of Aquitaine, you might enjoy my web site (address provided). Choose “Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine” on MENU; then scroll down to “Excerpts”.
You may enjoy the snippets in “Excerpts.” One of my fans whose review you will find on my “More reviews” page (under “Ronni’s Rants”) comments: “…Eleanor emerges as a woman of great wisdom, dearly won. A real woman, with a strong sense of her place in this life and the next. What a great read! This is so gripping. I got so totally caught up in this story one night that I woke up with images of Eleanor in my mind, and Kate Hepburn’s voice in my ear. I love this story.”
You wrote in your blog: “Watched it again today, with several of the daughters.”
Ronni (above) who uses her real name on my Amazon page (Veronica Prior, Round Rock, TX) gave a copy of my book to her daughter for her birthday, so she must have found it instructive for keeping male egos in check!
With my best wishes,
Robert Fripp, author,
“Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine”