History Film / Becket

** When Henry II went to performance penance in the wake of Becket's murder he stopped outside Canterbury, took off his boots, and walked barefoot three miles to the Cathedral rather than riding up to the Cathedral as depicted in the film.

* HistoricalInJoke: In what is possibly a historic in-joke for the [[Art/TheBayeuxTapestry Bayeux Tapestry]], Henry yells in frustration at his wife and mother:

** Becket's death happened after Henry the Young King's coronation rather than shortly after Becket's return from exile. The younger Henry's coronation was performed by the Archbishop of York instead of by Becket, who as Archbishop of Canterbury held the right to crown the monarch. Learning of this Becket excommunicated the clergy involved in the coronation, and in response Henry had his infamous frustrated outburst that prompted the barons to kill Becket.

* CandlelitRitual: The rite of excommunication is performed with the Archbishop Becket flanked by a full choir, all bearing candles; after declaring [[spoiler:Lord Gilbert]] cast out of the church, Becket [[DyingCandle snuffs his candle out]] against the ground.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Henry failed to think through what would happen if Becket were to take being Archbishop seriously instead of being the King's puppet.
* DoesntKnowTheirOwnChild: Henry can't tell his rambunctious sons apart.

* WeUsedToBeFriends

** The real Thomas Beckett was consecrated as Bishop by Henry of Blois, who was the Bishop of Winchester rather than the Bishop of London.

* HistoricalInJoke: In what is possibly a historic in-joke for the Bayeux Tapestry, Henry yells in frustration at his wife and mother:

* ItWillNeverCatchOn; Henry doesn't see the use of these new implements for eating called "forks":

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The most obvious being that Becket was actually a Norman (and not only that, his parents had only recently emigrated from France and Becket himself was educated in Paris) and not a Saxon. Jean Anouilh admitted that he invented this for RuleOfDrama. Further, some recent historians suggest that Becket and Henry were never as close of friends as the play and film make out.

-->'''Henry:''' In God's name, how long does it take to make a tapestry?! And it's mediocre beyond belief!

--'''Henry:''' In God's name, how long does it take to make a tapestry?! And it's mediocre beyond belief!

''Becket'' is a 1964 film adaption of the French play ''Becket or the Honour of God'' by Jean Anouilh, directed by Peter Glanville and starring Creator/PeterOToole as [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] and Creator/RichardBurton as Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

''Becket'' is a 1964 film adaption of the French play ''Becket or the Honour of God'' by Jean Anouilh, starring Creator/PeterOToole as [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] and Creator/RichardBurton as Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

* ArtisticLicense: The most obvious being that Becket was actually a Norman (and not only that, his parents had only recently emigrated from France and Becket himself was educated in Paris) and not a Saxon. Jean Anouilh admitted that he invented this for RuleOfDrama. Further, some recent historians suggest that Becket and Henry were never as close of friends as the play and film make out.

* IWasQuiteALooker: Becket thinks the old impovershed Saxon farmer he and Henry find may have been handsome in his youth.

* AgeLift: Historically, Becket was fourteen years older than Henry. the film portrays them as about the same.

* HomoeroticSubtext: Henry directly compares his love for Becket to his relationship with his wife, with Becket coming out far ahead, even moaning his name at one point. His mother says he has an "obsession with this man that is unhealthy and unnatural" and that he's behaving like a scorned lover. His wife says she can tolerate the King's mistresses, but will not tolerate his relationship with Becket. Interestingly this seems to have been made up for the film and has no historical basis.

* HomoeroticSubtext: Henry directly compares his love for Becket to his relationship with his wife, with Becket coming out far ahead, even moaning his name at one point. His mother says he has a "obsession with this man that is unhealthy and unnatural" and he's behaving like a scorned lover. His wife says she can tolerate the King's mistresses, but will not tolerate his relationship with Becket. Interestingly this seems to have been made up for the movie and has no historical basis.

* HomoeroticSubtext: Henry directly compares his love for Becket to his relationship with his wife, with Becket coming out far ahead, even moaning his name at one point. His mother says he has a "obsession with this man that is unhealthy and unnatural" and he's behaving like a scorned lover. His wife says she can tolerate the King's mistresses, but will not tolerate his relationship with Becket. Interestingly this has no historical basis.

* DuelingStarsMovie