The King's Speech

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2011)

This very British film had been building up ever since it was mentioned of being released near the time when the Oscars are held, and was tipped as a favourite to be up for and maybe win some awards, and surely enough it was, I definitely had to see it. Basically this is the biopic of King George VI (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning Colin Firth), father of Queen Elizabeth II, who suffered a life long speech impediment, has cannot speak without stammering since the age of four or five. George, real name Albert, or 'Bertie' to those close to him, dreaded public speaking, the 1925 Commonwealth exhibition in London stands out as being a particularly difficult speech for both himself and the audience listening. He tried many different therapies over the years to cure him of his speech problem, and with the help of his loving wife Queen Elizabeth (BAFTA winning, and Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Helena Bonham Carter) he found the next attempt to make a change. Australian raised and unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue (BAFTA winning, and Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Geoffrey Rush), is hired privately to teach Bertie the skills he needs to be able to speak fluently with no pauses, ready for all public speeches. In his social life, Bertie deals with the tragic death of his father King George V (Sir Michael Gambon), his brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) is initially chosen to take over the reign of Britain, but he abdicates for personal reasons, mostly a frowned-upon love. Over time, the relationship between Lionel and the King-to-be is antagonistic, as the doctor feels they should be equals during the sessions, but his not being used to dealing with common folk makes this tricky. There is the point when they do break apart and don't speak for a while, but when it is announced by the prime minister that Britain is at war with Germany, and the need for a new King dawns, Bertie returns to try and cure himself. Finally it comes to the conclusive speech by the new King George VI broadcast live on the radio, as he reads the three page statement with Lionel there to silently guise him through all the speaking techniques he has learnt. The speech is a tremendous success, King George VI truly feels a sense of pride, everyone around him applauding and congratulating, and the large crowd outside Buckingham Palace cheering, the final text says Bertie and Lionel remained friends until death. Also starring Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill, Jennifer Ehle as Myrtle Logue, Derek Jacobi as Archbishop Cosmo Lang, Claire Bloom as Queen Mary, Anthony Andrews as Stanley Baldwin, Tim Downie as Duke of Gloucester and Eve Best as Wallis Simpson. First I should say that one of my favourite scenes, other than the flag-waving finale of course, are of Firth swearing strongly and frequently as part of the therapy, hilarious fun. Anyway, Firth delivers a flawless performance that you can feel both sympathy and empathy for, a deserved award winner, Rush is a fantastic breath of air as the speech therapist who sometimes antagonises him, for good reason, and Carter does well as the supportive wife, the supporting cast, including a brief but brilliant Spall, are great too. It is moving story with great gravitas, wonderful comedic moments in amongst dignified political stuff, and powerful thought provoking stuff about how power can make you lonely, it really makes you proud to be British, a must see historical drama. It won the Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Director for Tom Hooper and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, and it was nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Music for Alexandre Desplat and Best Sound Mixing, it won the BAFTAs for Best Film and Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominated for the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Make Up/Hair, Best Production Design, Best Sound and the Sir David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. Colin Firth was number 9 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, and he was number 29 on The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols, Helena Bonham Carter was number 13 on The 50 Greatest British Actresses, and she was number 41 on The World's Greatest Actor. Very good!