Why You Should Watch: Becket
Becket (1964) is the story of Henry II (Peter O'Toole) and Thomas a Becket (Richard Burton), and their love story and the personal and political battles between them as the embodiment of Church vs. State. When Henry appoints his friend Thomas as the Lord Chancellor, then maneuvers things for him to become Archbishop of Canterbury with the idea of having an ally within the Church, he has no idea what's to come.
Why should you watch it? Well, first of all, it's slashy as hell. While there is a definite struggle for power, everything is framed--particularly from Henry's point of view--as a very personal battle, with very personal motivations. Seriously, go ahead and count the number of times Henry uses the word "love" to or about Thomas, let alone other characters talking about their relationship (and how "unnatural" it is). Also, since it was re-mastered just a few years ago and released on BluRay, the film shows extra details of the costuming (not particularly historically accurate, but stunning nonetheless) and tapestries which are surprisingly beautiful.
It's not a perfect movie: far from it. But as anyone who has spent any time with me probably knows, I love it to bits.
Here's the first thing I love about this movie, aside from the fact that it was first, before even The Lion in Winter (which I'll get to in another post), in getting me interested in who in the history of the Plantagenets in general, and Henry II and his brood in particular: it takes grand events which would, in fact, set in motion a lot of changes in the political and religious landscape and makes them more about these two men and what they're relationship was.
I also love one of the biggest reasons this is NOT a typical religious picture from the early 60s: this is not the story of saint's religious zeal or passion (or Passion) that transcends his loyalty or love of his friend. Instead, all of Becket's dealings are more of an intellectual exercise in what he believes his role should be as Archbishop. In fact, from the very beginning, the movie sets him up as sort of the ultimate clam to Henry's anti-clam: emotionally distanced from everything, no matter what it is. Pretty much everything appears to be an intellectual exercise, including giving his mistress to Henry when he demands it. He is, in fact, something of a cold-fish bastard, and that doesn't really change throughout the movie. When he takes the miter of the Archbishop, it's with that same emotional distance, even with multiple "conversations" with God. Becket himself states multiple times that he's not particularly capable of love--or comfortable being loved, and when Henry presses him to demand if Becket "started to love God more (than me)" he states only "I began to love the honor of God."
Henry, on the other hand, is all about the passion, both emotional and physical. His main motivation throughout the movie seems to be a need for Thomas to love him as much as he loves Thomas, and when Becket takes what Henry meant to be more of a figurehead position of the Archbishop of Canterbury SERIOUSLY, Henry's actions from then on are motivated not only by his need to maintain control as king OVER the influence of the Church, but more by a feeling of personal betrayal far deeper than that of a one friend to another.
(In purely meta terms, critics alternately accuse Burton of being too wooden and O'Toole overacting. On the latter count, in fact, one critic of the time wrote he "played the king as a raving queen." I think both criticisms are valid, except that by all accounts, Becket was pretty wooden, emotionally distant, and difficult to like. And Henry, in his younger years, was noted for his fits of rage where he would roll around and bit the furniture. So, kinda hard to overact that.)
But I always feel swept up in Henry's passion for Thomas, and the decisions he makes because of it. There's very few films where one character's love for the other propels them more. That he is, in fact, also following an actual political agenda (the increasing desire to separate what the Church controls from what the Crown controls) seems secondary to that personal passion.
The one and only real complaint I've ever had about the film, personally, was the portrayal of Eleanor. Part of it is the shouting about her virtue (so much a world of no), but mostly it's that I come away from the whole thing thinking that is not a woman you keep imprisoned for over a decade after she led multiple civil wars against you, and not actually kill her. That is not a woman who rode on Crusades dressed as a bare-breasted Amazon.
Just. No.
Here's your bit of random trivia for the day: Peter O'Toole is the only actor to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same character in two unrelated films (Becket and The Lion in Winter).
On an only vaguely related note, and as an a bonus watching recommendation, while I was writing this up, I couldn't help thinking of Sister Wendy (nee Beckett), during her special on saints, commenting on how much she's always wanted to like "cousin Tom," but just can't. He was just not that likeable as a person. Which made me want to go back and watch all her specials on art, because she is the most adorable thing in the world.
So, here's your bonus rec: If you haven't seen "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting" or any of her other specials, she is a British Carmelite nun, art historian, and critic. She's intelligent, adorable, and at times funny as hell. Seriously, get thee to YouTube for those.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth. There are currently
DW comments. Please comment at Dreamwidth if possible.
Why should you watch it? Well, first of all, it's slashy as hell. While there is a definite struggle for power, everything is framed--particularly from Henry's point of view--as a very personal battle, with very personal motivations. Seriously, go ahead and count the number of times Henry uses the word "love" to or about Thomas, let alone other characters talking about their relationship (and how "unnatural" it is). Also, since it was re-mastered just a few years ago and released on BluRay, the film shows extra details of the costuming (not particularly historically accurate, but stunning nonetheless) and tapestries which are surprisingly beautiful.
It's not a perfect movie: far from it. But as anyone who has spent any time with me probably knows, I love it to bits.
Here's the first thing I love about this movie, aside from the fact that it was first, before even The Lion in Winter (which I'll get to in another post), in getting me interested in who in the history of the Plantagenets in general, and Henry II and his brood in particular: it takes grand events which would, in fact, set in motion a lot of changes in the political and religious landscape and makes them more about these two men and what they're relationship was.
I also love one of the biggest reasons this is NOT a typical religious picture from the early 60s: this is not the story of saint's religious zeal or passion (or Passion) that transcends his loyalty or love of his friend. Instead, all of Becket's dealings are more of an intellectual exercise in what he believes his role should be as Archbishop. In fact, from the very beginning, the movie sets him up as sort of the ultimate clam to Henry's anti-clam: emotionally distanced from everything, no matter what it is. Pretty much everything appears to be an intellectual exercise, including giving his mistress to Henry when he demands it. He is, in fact, something of a cold-fish bastard, and that doesn't really change throughout the movie. When he takes the miter of the Archbishop, it's with that same emotional distance, even with multiple "conversations" with God. Becket himself states multiple times that he's not particularly capable of love--or comfortable being loved, and when Henry presses him to demand if Becket "started to love God more (than me)" he states only "I began to love the honor of God."
Henry, on the other hand, is all about the passion, both emotional and physical. His main motivation throughout the movie seems to be a need for Thomas to love him as much as he loves Thomas, and when Becket takes what Henry meant to be more of a figurehead position of the Archbishop of Canterbury SERIOUSLY, Henry's actions from then on are motivated not only by his need to maintain control as king OVER the influence of the Church, but more by a feeling of personal betrayal far deeper than that of a one friend to another.
(In purely meta terms, critics alternately accuse Burton of being too wooden and O'Toole overacting. On the latter count, in fact, one critic of the time wrote he "played the king as a raving queen." I think both criticisms are valid, except that by all accounts, Becket was pretty wooden, emotionally distant, and difficult to like. And Henry, in his younger years, was noted for his fits of rage where he would roll around and bit the furniture. So, kinda hard to overact that.)
But I always feel swept up in Henry's passion for Thomas, and the decisions he makes because of it. There's very few films where one character's love for the other propels them more. That he is, in fact, also following an actual political agenda (the increasing desire to separate what the Church controls from what the Crown controls) seems secondary to that personal passion.
The one and only real complaint I've ever had about the film, personally, was the portrayal of Eleanor. Part of it is the shouting about her virtue (so much a world of no), but mostly it's that I come away from the whole thing thinking that is not a woman you keep imprisoned for over a decade after she led multiple civil wars against you, and not actually kill her. That is not a woman who rode on Crusades dressed as a bare-breasted Amazon.
Just. No.
Here's your bit of random trivia for the day: Peter O'Toole is the only actor to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same character in two unrelated films (Becket and The Lion in Winter).
On an only vaguely related note, and as an a bonus watching recommendation, while I was writing this up, I couldn't help thinking of Sister Wendy (nee Beckett), during her special on saints, commenting on how much she's always wanted to like "cousin Tom," but just can't. He was just not that likeable as a person. Which made me want to go back and watch all her specials on art, because she is the most adorable thing in the world.
So, here's your bonus rec: If you haven't seen "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting" or any of her other specials, she is a British Carmelite nun, art historian, and critic. She's intelligent, adorable, and at times funny as hell. Seriously, get thee to YouTube for those.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth. There are currently
DW comments. Please comment at Dreamwidth if possible.