1968 historical dramaRating: 17/20
Plot: I'm not great with history. Let me see if I've got this right. Henry VIII or IX has his wife, Queen Katharine, locked in a tower because she was "bitchy," a perfectly valid reason to have a queen locked up in 5th Century B.C. England according to the King Handbook. But it's Christmas time, which in the 5th Century was actually called Christmas tymme and had nothing to do with Santa Claus (not born yet) or Jesus Christ (mangers hadn't been invented yet) but everything to do with elves (not featured in the movie) and festive damnation and giant banquets offering varieties of puddings, and Henry the XII or V is in good enough spirits to invite his wife to a Christmas celebration. They've got a lopsided tree and everything, so it seems the appropriate tymme for the king to announce which of his three sons will sit atop his throne after he shakes off his mortal coils and no longer needs a throne. A gay French guy and Henry III or CXVII's mistress are also invited. They sit around screaming insults at each other and having a terrific time until one of the sons puts his finger (the dirty one) right in the pudding and ruins it for everybody else. Christmas tymme ends.
I really can't remember the last time I enjoyed dialogue this much in a movie. Every single line, it seems, is so crisply written and venomous, and it's just a ton of fun watching O'Toole and Hepburn (as well as the supporting cast) deliver them. It's sometimes difficult for a movie that is so dialogue-driven to engage me for over two hours and historical or period pieces are really not my bag, but this one packs such a saucy punch, that it's almost impossible not to be entertained by what is going on. I really like that this movie tricks you into thinking something big is going to happen, that all the tension and conflict is building to something, and then (spoiler alert), that something really never comes. This has got to be one of the most dysfunctional families in cinematic history, yet they are so much fun to watch and so much fun to root against. I think I rooted against them anyway. I don't know. Maybe I did like them. With all the brilliant writing, by the way, I believe my favorite line is the very simple one spoken by son John that seems to come from a Monty Python movie--"You stink. You're a stinker and you stink!" I might start saying that to my students.
This was a Cory recommendation.
1 comment:
Kelly and I say that to each all the time, and most of the time I think we mean it. That is also one of my two favorite lines. The other is after she has tormented Henry about whether she slept with his father, and after he stumbles sceaming from the room says,"What family doesn't have its ups and downs?". I'm really glad that you liked this so much. From '62 to '68 O'Toole did "Lawrence of Arabia", "Becket" and this. You have probably seen "Lawrence...", but I don't think you have seen "Becket", where O'Toole portrays a younger and different Henry II. It is also an incedibly literate script and I love it almost as much as "The Lion...". This is a high 20 for me, of course.
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