The King's Speech

Sorry for not writing anything during February. I just couldn't be buggered. I thought of inventing some excuses but they were not very plausible. Stuff like I had been abducted by aliens but they did not have access to the internet on their spaceship. That's not very plausible because surely an alien species who have the advanced technology to travel millions of light years to earth must have the technology to tap into the internet. Anyway, The King's Speech. A friend asked me to review this multi award winning film for my blog, so this is dedicated to Louise Robertson. The King's Speech documents the coming to the throne of King George VI, the present Queen's late father, and his painful battle to overcome a crippling speech impediment. I am not a fan of the royal family by any means and I often find it hard to relate to them but the human element side of the story overshadowed any existing prejudices. I think this film will help improve the popularity of the royal family but more importantly it gives a voice to a man who showed a lot of quiet courage and perseverance and to a lesser extent acknowledges the loyalty and patience of his speech therapist. The film opens with the British Empire Exhibition in 1925 and the future king George VI, at that time Prince Albert (but known to close family and friends as 'Bertie') has to make the closing speech in front of thousands of spectators. It's painful to watch as he stammers and falters. After many unsuccessul attempts at speech therapy he enlists the help of the Lionel Logue, an unorthodox Australian speech therapist, in one final attempt to overcome his crippling stammer. An unlikely friendship develops as they work together and gradually Bertie gains confidence in public speaking and begins to exert some control over his stammer. The friendship is not without it's trials. Bertie may be royalty but he's portrayed in a very human light. At times he can be snobbish and bad-tempered, but essentially he is a good man who just wants to live quietly with his wife and family. It therefore makes for good cinema when the burden of Kingship is unfairly thrust upon him. His playboy brother, Edward, abdicates to marry an American divorcee and Bertie must face his worst nightmare. If this situation had unfolded fifty years before his time it would not have been such a burden but now through the expansive media of radio the King now has a voice that his subjects expect to hear. The culmination of the film is his radio broadcast to the nation at the outbreak of the second world war. It's my favorite part of the film and my summation of the scene reflects the rest of the film. It's beautifully directed and paced, the music is perfect, the dialogue is well rounded and hits the right note, and the acting is superb. The use of the music is very clever in this scene, as Lionel is almost directing Bertie through the first few sentences of the speech just like a conductor directing an orchestra. Colin Firth deserves his Oscar. He is totally convincing in the role. In an interview he said that pretending to stutter was the most physically demanding and draining acting that he has ever done. Geoffrey Rush, Helena Boham-Carter and Guy Pierce are great in their supporting roles and I'm glad Rush and Boham-Carter were nominated for an Oscar. It's great cinema: entertaining, poignant, funny and powerful. We need more films like this. Films that spend more time and budget on the script, casting, story and direction, without having to rely on box office names, tedious action sequences and special effects to compensate for poor dialogue and acting.
The King's Speech 9/10