Rhapsodies

To start this exercise I decided to begin with the year of my birth, 1968.

The first in my selection was Rachel, Rachel a drama directed by Paul Newman starring Joanne Woodward as a repressed 35 year old school teacher who gradually shakes off her shackles and finds sexual freedom after she runs into an acquaintance from high school. Technically it was good enough and did some interesting things switching back and fourth between Rachel’s dreary reality and fantasy life as well as an excellent use of flashbacks. Regrettably I’m afraid I was not really the target audience for this kind of film and while I found it competent I’m afraid that my attention span wasn’t up for it.

The other film on my list was one I’d been hearing about for years and was looking forward to seeing, The Lion in Winter.

This was a story about the 1183 Christmas Court of King Henry II, played by Peter O’Toole, and his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine played by Katharine Hepburn. This is an ensemble of great names at the top of their game (Anthony Hopkins is virtually unrecognizable in his first performance as Richard the Lionheart (along with Timothy Dalton as King Philip II of France)

An adaptation of the play of the same name this is a magnificent tale of court intrigue, a dysfunctional family and growing old. It’s extremely quotable and O’Toole and Hepburn are fantastic as two people who hate each other and are at the same time perfect for one another. The ongoing duels between verbal martial artists are quite addictive.

I only have problem with it. I think there is a difference between filmed plays and film adaptions of plays and this was definitely a filmed play. So much as I enjoyed the performances and the going on I did not find the directing or the cinematography very creative and found myself wanting to see a performance of the original play or different versions.