Members of Team Experience have been asked to share their favorite holiday film. Here's Dancin' Dan with his...
AH, Christmas! That special time of year when family gathers around the tree to shower each other with love, presents, and good tidings... and backstabbing, long-held resentments, and petty grievances! Which is exactly why The Lion in Winter is my kind of Christmas movie.
Of course families love each other. That goes without saying. But no family is perfect. For many people (I'm tempted to say everyone, but you never know!), going home for the holidays is a prospect that inspires fear and dread. You may only see these people once or twice a year, and there's only so long that certain things can go unsaid...
Anyone who's been in a room with two family members fighting when you have no means of escape will deeply identify with nearly all of The Lion in Winter - Henry and Eleanor are just like your parents, except with more time on their hands to come up with elaborate revenge plots in an attempt to heal old wounds. It is both easier and harder to forgive when a family member hurts you - easy to remember all the love that still exists between you, and easy paste on a smile and say you've moved on... but so difficult to actually let go that inside you nurse that grudge until it becomes a twisted plan to reflect that hurt back out at them, waiting for the moment when your attacker is at their weakest so you can inflict maximum damage. It's a never-ending, vicious cycle, and the scars it leaves never truly fade away.
Of course, it's more entertaining when it isn't your own family, which is why I am so glad we have Katharine Hepburn threatening to peel Peter O'Toole like a pear and Peter O'Toole denying all three of his sons their birthright of the throne. It's familial politics played out on a grander scale than any of us could ever dream, rendered in some of the most delicious prose imaginable. Hepburn, at least, doesn't shy away from the deep hurt these insults and schemes can cause, but it doesn't last for long. There's still hope. There'll be other Christmases, after all. And with all the layers in these dramatics, it's always a pleasure to revisit The Lion in Winter each Christmas. It certainly makes me appreciate my family that much more.
PREVIOUS FAVORITES
White Christmas by Eurocheese
While You Were Sleeping by Chris Feil