“It’s 1183—we’re barbarians!” 
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) gets it just right in The Lion in Winter as she tries, with the aging King Henry II (Peter O’Toole), to control the violent ambitions of their three sons (including Anthony Hopkins) to succeed Henry as king of England.
There are credible enactments of 12th century geopolitics and timeless family disputations and several varieties of realistic true love. There are verbal fireworks galore, and distinctive personalities that transcend playacting.
The sons’ quests remain unresolved at the conclusion, as Eleanor sails away, and Henry waves from the river bank, and they smile their tragic lovers’ smiles at each other.
The Lion in Winter (1968, PG, 134 minutes) has authentic touches: there are lots of swirling robes and candles and dogs.
Note: the 2003 version (same title, made for TV, 167 minutes) with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close is a longer, quieter, more vegetarian re-do of the O’Toole/Hepburn version. It’s a pallid copy—don’t bother.
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