It was good to see this film finally and it did hold up well after all these years . Yes, the theatre origins were very apparent at times but the performances, notably from O’Toole, Hepburn and Hopkins more than compensated for any slightly wooden staginess that was at particularly apparent in some of the dialogue, particularly where strong emotions were trying to be evoked. And the scene in Philipp’s chamber with all three sons hiding and then their father entering was just rather ridiculously implausible – although I could, sort of, see the need from a dramatic point of view – it just seemed a very clumsy and rather naive way to do it. I also felt that the insults that were used at moments of high tension were often too modern-sounding and jarred with the style of the rest of the dialogue. There were also certain scenes where the establishment of a location that was a unique feature of the film, as opposed to the stage play, was far too protracted and we gained nothing by the length of these scenes, most notably with Eleanor’s arrival by barge at Chinon near the start.
O’Toole and Hepburn made a marvellously charismatic couple; at times I felt there was a bit of the George and Martha dynamic from ‘Virginia Woolf in their often toxic but mutually supportive and destructive relationship. Each seemed to enable the worst of the other.
The sense of time and place was interesting. In many aspects it was very realistic in its grubbiness – particularly the straw on the floor, the hunting dogs’ continuous presence (plus of course what they would leave behind in the hay on the floor!) and the icy chill draughtiness of the rooms. But in other respects it was very, often irritatingly ‘modern’ – notably the immaculate hair and teeth of all and, fo0r many of the women, the eye make-up, made very apparent in the close-ups.
The music was impressive; no cod-medieval sounds but rather harshly dissonant 20thC. harmonies that provided an excellent auditory accompaniment to the action.