MovieChat Forums > The Lion in Winter (1968) Discussion > Who was Geoffrey fighting?

Who was Geoffrey fighting?

posted 9 years ago by pawtrax67
11 replies | jump to latest

In the beginning with the beach battle scene. Who was fighting whom? Normans against France?

[–] syntinen 9 years ago

It isn't ever mentioned. But I very much doubt he would have ever fought France - Henry was at peace with Philip anyway, and like all his brothers Geoffrey was - as shown in the film - making overtures of friendship towards Philip in the hope of creating an alliance that would help him.

In any case the numbers involved are just too small to be an Angevin-Capet set-to. Given the rocky Atlantic coastal setting, my bet is that we are in Brittany and that Geoffrey (Count of Brittany, remember) is dealing with a rebellion by one of his Breton vassals, or a raid into Brittany by one of his neighbours, or some such.

[–] benbrae76 9 years ago

It's pretty obvious that it's a practice mock battle amongst Geoffrey's own troops.

[–] rrb_1 9 years ago

It's pretty obvious that it's a practice mock battle amongst Geoffrey's own troops.

LOL!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] rrb_1 9 years ago

You disagree perhaps? ???

Well, duh!

You think Geoffrey would attack a squad of his own soldiers with overwhelming force and kill as many as possible? That's your idea of a "mock battle"? LOL!

[–] syntinen 9 years ago

Seconded. A trained soldier, particularly a soldier trained to fight as a knight in full armour, was a hugely valuable commodity. No lord would waste them by getting them killed in training exercises - and if he did, he wouldn't get many men applying to join his household as replacements!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] rrb_1 9 years ago

Thanks for the link. First line: "Melee is a modern term for a type of mock combat in medieval tournaments..." Did you see a tournament on that beach?

"...where 2 teams of horsemen clashed in formation..." Funny, I didn't see that. I saw 2 teams launch a surprise attack on a 3rd, which was the only one in formation.

“…with the aim of breaking [one teams’s] ranks without breaking formation.” Hmm. Since Geoffrey’s boys didn’t attack in formation, that would be hard.

The scene featured men slashing at each other with swords, jabbing with pikes, screaming in agony. Pretty extreme if the point was just to get your opponents to break formation. Can you really think we’re not meant to believe soldiers were killed?

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] rrb_1 9 years ago

I didn't say the mock up on the beach was…a melee

Then why tell us to check out the description of melee to begin with? LOL!

Sure there is some shouting etc., but not with pain, more with effort.

Really? You know this? Is that what Anthony Harvey told you? Is what that people sound like in your gym? ROTFL with that one!!!

No evidence indicates that medieval warlords staged mock battles as depicted in the movie, with 2 groups of mounted soldiers attacking one group of far fewer foot soldiers, swords slashing and pikes jabbing, where many serious injuries (at the least) were inevitable. The only mock battle practice you present is one whose only objective is simply to get the opponent to break formation. Nothing like the lethal action this battle presents.

The point of that scene is to introduce a character who thrives on creating chaos and destruction while he stands aloof. A mock battle wouldn’t convey that. Harvey showed us just what we needed to see. There was no need to show a big battle sequence with a beach strewn with dead and wounded.

[–] 9 years ago

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