Film Review: Becket
Medieval Church (Thomas Becket) Versus Medieval State (Henry II of England)
Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole star in this epic treatment of the medieval English martyr, Thomas Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Becket (1964) is a dangerous film in that it presents such a beautiful and convincing view of its time and period that we easily accept it as historical truth. But of course, it's not.
The film, taken from a play, is based on the life of English saint and martyr Thomas Becket (played by Richard Burton), Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of his murder in 1170. Becket became involved in a dispute between his church and his king, Henry II (played by Peter O'Toole). Henry, who had appointed Becket to the Archbishopric, felt that Becket should act in his best interests. Becket was both his vassal and his best friend (something the film shows well by giving us early scenes of the two of them whoring around in the odd peasant hut. As kings do in these costume dramas). Up until his appointment, Becket had seemed like any other courtier, though he did apparently beg Henry not to appoint him. Henry should have heeded him.
As soon as Becket became Archbishop, he immediately took the Church's side in the ongoing controversy over who should have control over the Church--local, secular powers or the Pope in Rome. It was more than just a contest over worldly power; if secular lords gained control, the centralized Church might decentralize and fragment into many smaller regional churches.
Henry's anger was fueled by a sense of betrayal. The film shows this in a dramatic scene on the beach where the two men confront each other on horseback, Becket dressed like a monk. Finally, in 1170, Henry made unwise comments in front of some of his vassals indicating that he wanted rid of his old friend. Four of his knights decided to fulfill his wish. On December 29, 1170, Reginald Fitzurse, Hugh de Moreville, William de Tracy, and Richard le Breton went to Canterbury. There, in the Cathedral, they found Becket praying before the altar. And there, they cut him down with swords. In three years, he had been canonized a saint and martyr by popular and papal acclaim. The film begins with Henry's penance for his part in Becket's death--a public flogging. The rest is one big flashback.
The film heightens the tension between Becket and Henry by making Becket a Saxon (he was actually Norman, like his king and his murderers). The writer of the original play, Jean Anouilh, later confessed that he only found out that Becket wasn't a Saxon after finishing the work, but chose to keep it the way it was.
Another error is, of course, the language. Like sounds in space opera films, it's so common to hear people who lived nearly a thousand years ago rip out Received Pronunciation English that many viewers don't really see this as a problem. But here, it covers over the very difference that making Becket a Saxon was meant to highlight--as members of the new English elite, neither Becket nor Henry actually spoke English. The English language had gone into eclipse as a literary tongue after the Norman Conquest a century before. Instead, both men spoke the Norman French of their class and it probably wasn't nearly as high-falutin' as Burton and O'Toole's rich accents. Not that anybody today could tell, since the promised DVD release of the restored film has been delayed for years.
And Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine is portrayed as a powerless, middle-aged shrew, rather than the magnetic and very dangerous woman that she actually was.
One further irony--neither lead was English, let alone Norman. Peter O'Toole, who also played Henry in "The Lion in Winter", is Irish, like the author of this week's book review. Burton was Welsh.
