We're supposed to believe this is Christmas-time in Western Europe, yet the surrounding hills are as verdant as a Sunkist valley. Hogwash!
Some snow-blanketed fields would have made this a right regal production.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
That's your only response to this film? Talk about anal.
shareThat's your only response to my post? Talk about impertinence.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
I have to agree with rrb.
Here we have outstanding acting by all concerned, a magnificent script, great cinematography and in a period of English hisotory which was almost ground-breaking for our future, and all you seem able to comment on is greenery in winter! Shame on you. Weak.
Had this been in any history exam at school, I'd have failed you,without doubt.
In fact, for this comment alone, I shall give you an E!!
I have to agree with rrb.
and all you seem able to comment on is greenery in winter!
Had this been in any history exam at school
Not all winters have snow on the ground, even in the 12th century.
I did not need to see the thespians wading through snow-covered wastes to realise the freezing cold of that winter!
Not all winters have snow on the ground, even in the 12th century.
I did not need to see the thespians wading through snow-covered wastes to realise the freezing cold of that winter!
Winters in Europe often do look like mild days at unspecified times of year. snow at christmas is comparatively rare.
shareHey *beep* I'm almost positive that the term "Winter," references his age, not the season.
Of course, I'm even more positive that you're joking, so you can take it with you.
Nah, not joking.
The title is a double entendre, referring to both his advanced age and the season (the fictitious events depicted unfold at Henry's Christmas Court in Chinon.)
But you said "almost positive", so you're safe from ridicule
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
Well, perhaps Bristol doesn't have such harsh winters; or perhaps it was early winter? Or perhaps the director didn't care for such attention to detail?
shareI haven't watched the movie for several months, or longer and without digging out my dvd, and finding the specific scene, I recall Henry in a bedroom in the castle (Chinon?), draped in a heavy fur cape and breaking thin ice in a bowl of water before cupping his hands in it to rinse his face? If my memory is correct, the director did pay that much attention to detail, small though it was.
shareYou are correct, and that minute detail did not go unnoticed.
However, some ice in a pail isn't enough to convince me of the frigid temperatures. Moreover, it isn't exactly consistent with the weather outside; do any of the characters ever look cold? They stroll about and gallivant with seemingly no discomfort or bodily acknowledgment of the supposed time of year.
Call me pedantic, but I wanted blizzards and tall drifts of snow.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
In all of your demands for snow, bear in mind it might have been another mild winter, and keeping actors, crews, and catering people et al, hanging around certain locations waiting on snowfalls or even significant flurries, cost money! Eats rapidly into a budget, so any director has to keep a best eye on authenticity and another on the film studios' bucks.
shareYes. Any time anyone goes outside, they're covered in heavy cloaks. It just isn't that obvious because most of the action takes place inside.
shareThank goodness you posted, Hygro. I could not believe I was halfway down the page before someone recognized that "Winter" in the title refers to the king's mortality, not that the story happened to take place around Christmas.
shareRead my reply to gyro...it refers to both.
http://jmoneyyourhoney.filmaf.com/owned
Yeah, okay. There aren't that many shots of the hills surrounding Chinon, but there is no snow, and the plants look suspiciously green. I'm a fan of snow in movies, myself, and some packed snowbanks and swirling flakes might have added to the visuals.
For the sake of discussion, I could point out the Chinon is in the Loire River Valley, notable for its mild microclimate (think wine), and according to some figures online, the average December temperature in Chinon is over 40 degrees f. (5.5 celsius). The actors wear lots of furs, and there are fires in the fireplaces, and ice in the washbowls, so there is an effort made to provide a suitable wintry atmosphere. According to Mr O'Toole's biography, filming ran from November through May, so the exterior location shots may have been made in late Fall or even Spring.
So, we're faced with The Lion in Springtime, or The Lyin' in Winter?
I'm with SeanJoyce in this and have had similar feelings over the years regarding snow. This has become one of my favourite Christmas films and the delicious sense of claustrophobia would have been enhanced with a few exterior snow scenes.
shareWhat a load of crock. It doesn't snow in Western europe every year.
In Belgium we have periods of 12 years without any snow whatsoever and it is more to the north than the Loire Valley. And as one poster said, the Loire Valley region is well known for its micro climate.
What are you complaining about? Because the sun is shining? The sun shines even in winter, it is not very unusual. The trees had no leeves, and that is the only thing that matters, that is the only way you can tell on a film if it is winter. Maybe you are worried the grass looked green?? Comes as a surprise but even in winter the grass looks green in Western Europe.
It looked to me like a perfectly normal winter.
Maybe you saw too many Bands of brothers. With the heavy snowfall in Bastogne in one episode. THAT actually was a very unusual winter.
Winters without any snow are more common than winters with snow, believe me
Check the ending scene when Hepburn leaves on the boat. The hills across the river are covered with snow. They are not "verdant".
shareI'm with SeanJoyce...
As mentioned, in one scene Henry washes his face in a bucket of water, breaking the ice in order to do so. This ice on a bucket of water stored indoors, mind you. OP's powers of observation need working on.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
And that's actually ludicrous, historically speaking. Henry's reign was smack in the middle of the Medieval Warm Period (anyone can google it) when the climate of Western Europe was so mild and balmy that grapes could be grown for wine production as far north as York (and they weren't unknown even in Scotland). No, you would not have expected to see snow around Chinon in December back then.
shareThis is one of my favourite films, without doubt.
However, I doubt very much if Harvey sat down and thought, before commencing filming,now was this set in the Mediaeval Warm Period ? I am all in favour of historical accuracy, but isn't this almost paranoid attention to detail perhaps just a tad OTT?
Yes, I love it dearly, too.
And nitpicking over its historical accuracy is quite pointless, given that the film (and indeed the play it's based on) employed deliberate anachronism in its vision of the Plantagenets' family life. It's not that Goldman didn't realise that 12th-century royalty didn't have Christmas trees, wrap and label Christmas presents, etc - he introduced these anachronisms quite deliberately, and avoided anything like real medieval manners, precisely so we would relate to them as a real dysfunctional family.
My point was that was the OP's nitpick was unjustified anyway, even if the film had been intended to be realistic.
Yes, great acting, fantastic script.
Pointless nit-picking, as you described, is exactly that - pointless.
Glaring errors another matter entirely.
I did notice the Christmas tree! :)
It looks like winter to me. The sun is low and I wouldn't describe it as verdant...
In the commentary by Anthony Harvey he keeps talking about how cold it was.
This was filmed in Winter, in France. A least the exteriors.
Director Anthony Harvey repeats this several times during his audio commentary on the DVD.
I really do not think that it really makes that much difference to the effectiveness of the film.
That said, the events occur during the Mediaeval Warm Period which climate scientists say occurred. Some give a range of 900-1300 for this period, some say 950-1250. All would place the events in the warm period however. From around 1600 until around 1800 (or 1850 according to some studies) the "mini ice age" was a cooler period in which alpine glaciation increased.
You are probably right there.
However, seems the 20thC wasn't that warm either if tales of the winter of 1947 are a good gauge, and indeed 1963, which I recall well as a boy, trudging through feet upon feet of snow for week after week, and even our bathroom cistern with a thin veneer of ice round the inner edges, and windows frosted over until very late mornings, only to frost up again nightly! Grim hardly summed up that winter for us,especially in Scotland.