Becket was a Norman???????

Well if you write a play (later made into a movie) after merely reading one short biography as Jean Anouilh did, you have to expect mistakes. It is a fairly obvious one considering Thomas's name which is not very Saxon.
And what does it detract from the story? Hardly anything i would say. An unnamed monk is recorded as giving his life protecting the Archbishop - does it need to be in the cause of saxonism?

I too, though I love the film, get irritated at the portrayal of some of the characters. Henry's mother the the daughter of Henry I who should have been ruler of England and fought a long and bloody civil war with King Stephen finaly agreeing to peace on the condition that her son Henry becomes the King at Stephen's death is shown as an uncaring mother who spent her time going to balls and parties during Henry's childhood when in fact she was fighting.

His wife the famous Elanor of Aqutain, the richest noblewoman in chrisandom, ex wife of the King of France, who went of crusade with him, even so rumour says taught the "Art of Love" to a young Saladin, and who was so dangerous that for a long period Henry kept her prisoner in one of her castles, is show as nothing but a whining shrew, it was she who started of the notion of Chivalry with her famous "Court of Love".

Henry himself is shown as something of a vain peacock, when in fact he cared nothing such things, even his son who became the infamous King John records how he came on his father (Henry) sat on an old bucket in a stableyard, surrounded by horsemuck having his hair cut by a page boy with a rusty pair of old scissors.

Cry God for Harry, England and St George

Are you sure you got that one right? I remember Becket being called a Saxon in the movie.

Who can make sense of British history? What does it mean to be "English" anyway? The island was first populated by the Angles and Jutes, then along came the Saxons (Germanic) then, the Danes, who then looked south and took Northern France (and became known as Normans, i.e. Norsemen) then THEY took back "England" in 1066 from...who?... then THEY became "English" (Henry II was the grandson of William the C., no?) but then he held more land in France (Normandy) than in England...and...huh? what was my point?

In the movie, the character Thomas Becket is a Saxon. My advice is not to worry about the historical Becket.

"I like my historical dramas to be largely correct, with only a few historical alterations attributed to cinematic license."

So, Shakespeare's history plays are not your cup of tea, then?

--
http://scotches.home.comcast.net/

bobcan653, get over yourself!

It's a fictional movie, not a documentary or a history lesson.

This is a great movie- doesn't matter that it's historically inaccurate because it's not intended as a history lesson. Just enjoy it and don't worry.

This film actually excises some of the sillier mistakes in the play: for instance, Anouilh at one point had Henry refer to "my father's reign" (!). The Norman/Saxon thing - well, that's what happens when a writer bases his research on outdated books and ignores up-to-date scholarship.

I don't care for the treatment of Eleanor and Maude, but this is still a damn good movie.

One other thing - in the scene with Eleanor and Maude, their headdresses, and the helmets worn by the young princes, belong to a much later era. This jars because the costumes in Becket are mostly so authentic. In 1964, costume designers for "medieval" films still habitually reached for their big book of fifteenth century costumes, regardless of when the film was actually set: Becket mostly does look twelfth century, so it's a shame to see this isolated error.

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"An inglorious peace is better than a dishonourable war" ~ John Adams

bobcan653:


One theory, and I grewup when this film was released, is that they were trying to parallel the race issue of the time in the USA.

If that is true???????

Becket was a Norman.