Saw this 2003 television adaptation of 'The Lion in Winter' primarily for the cast. It is very difficult to go wrong with talent such as Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close, the two sounding on paper perfect for their roles and being fine actors in their own right. Interesting too to see how Andrey Konchalovskiy would fare with a more intimate setting and story.
Another main interest point was seeing how it would compare to the 1968 film with Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. Am another person who considers that a masterpiece, one of the best films that year and towards the top of the decade too. The play is wonderful, with the film being a fine adaptation of it. Seeing the 2003 version, some people will say that it is vastly inferior. Don't agree personally. It's not quite as great, but it is a more than worthy version that shows respect and is great on its own merits.
It may not quite have the wit of the 1968 film, taking itself a touch too seriously in spots and there are instances of some garish costuming and moments of camera work restlessness. The good things are many and in quantity they're hardly tiny.
'The Lion in Winter' (2003) is generally handsomely mounted and evocative, simple rather than huge in budget but not simplistic, the scenery being especially striking, and the photography brings this out beautifully. Konchalovskiy directs with surprising subtlety and does well in creating an intimacy and tensions between the actors, allowing the drama to resonate and simmer. The music fits well and doesn't intrude, actually being true to the period too like with the festive medieval court revels.
Don't really need to say an awful lot about the script, it adheres close to the 1968 film and source material script, which is brilliant writing. It captures the tensions, wit and nuances remarkably, lacking sharpness occasionally, and is very thought-provoking. The storytelling is deliberate in pace but not dull at all, the passionate chemistry and emotions, as well as the writing, drive it, especially in the stiller and more intimate scenes.
Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close had to face impossible competition and not only did they live up more than admirably they also gave splendid performances in their own right and make Henry and Eleanor compellingly real people. Stewart is forceful, authoritative and authoritative, but Close has the more challenging role and more to live up, it is an intensely committed and ferocious performance not without its nuances and with much class. Their chemistry is often dynamite.
Rest of the cast are near-perfect. John Light's subtly Machiavellian Geoffrey and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' fascinatingly entertaining and layered Phillip stand out, though Andrew Howard brings some gravelly gravitas to Richard and Yuliya Vysotskaya is a luminous Alys. Only Rafe Spall as John disappoints, John is problematically written in the play admittedly but Spall doesn't look comfortable and generally plays him with very little presence and too much of an idiot, and then he overacts other parts to the point of almost annoying parodying.
Summing up, well worth watching if not definitive. Don't let the deceptive marketing of the DVD fool you though. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Another main interest point was seeing how it would compare to the 1968 film with Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. Am another person who considers that a masterpiece, one of the best films that year and towards the top of the decade too. The play is wonderful, with the film being a fine adaptation of it. Seeing the 2003 version, some people will say that it is vastly inferior. Don't agree personally. It's not quite as great, but it is a more than worthy version that shows respect and is great on its own merits.
It may not quite have the wit of the 1968 film, taking itself a touch too seriously in spots and there are instances of some garish costuming and moments of camera work restlessness. The good things are many and in quantity they're hardly tiny.
'The Lion in Winter' (2003) is generally handsomely mounted and evocative, simple rather than huge in budget but not simplistic, the scenery being especially striking, and the photography brings this out beautifully. Konchalovskiy directs with surprising subtlety and does well in creating an intimacy and tensions between the actors, allowing the drama to resonate and simmer. The music fits well and doesn't intrude, actually being true to the period too like with the festive medieval court revels.
Don't really need to say an awful lot about the script, it adheres close to the 1968 film and source material script, which is brilliant writing. It captures the tensions, wit and nuances remarkably, lacking sharpness occasionally, and is very thought-provoking. The storytelling is deliberate in pace but not dull at all, the passionate chemistry and emotions, as well as the writing, drive it, especially in the stiller and more intimate scenes.
Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close had to face impossible competition and not only did they live up more than admirably they also gave splendid performances in their own right and make Henry and Eleanor compellingly real people. Stewart is forceful, authoritative and authoritative, but Close has the more challenging role and more to live up, it is an intensely committed and ferocious performance not without its nuances and with much class. Their chemistry is often dynamite.
Rest of the cast are near-perfect. John Light's subtly Machiavellian Geoffrey and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' fascinatingly entertaining and layered Phillip stand out, though Andrew Howard brings some gravelly gravitas to Richard and Yuliya Vysotskaya is a luminous Alys. Only Rafe Spall as John disappoints, John is problematically written in the play admittedly but Spall doesn't look comfortable and generally plays him with very little presence and too much of an idiot, and then he overacts other parts to the point of almost annoying parodying.
Summing up, well worth watching if not definitive. Don't let the deceptive marketing of the DVD fool you though. 8/10 Bethany Cox