a treasure-trove of great performances

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2011)

Earning Oscars for itself as well as for its star, Colin Firth, "The King's Speech" is an entertaining historical drama whose intelligent writing and superb acting allow it to triumph over its conventional theme.
In this real-life version of "Pygmalion," Firth plays Prince Albert (aka the Duke of York, aka King George VI), the British royal whose severe speech impediment haunted him throughout his early life and made being a monarch difficult in a time when a new little device called radio made speaking in public a necessity for anyone serious about being a respected leader on the world stage. Geoffrey Rush costars as Lionel Logue, the unlicensed speech therapist and part time stage actor who helped him overcome his affliction.
Written by David Seidler (who himself suffered from a stammer as a child) and directed by Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech" is very much in the mold of all those fusty, do-gooding, inspirational biographies that always seem to grab the lion's-share of trophies when awards season comes around. However, this particular one avoids some of the pitfalls of the genre by being less about the physical affliction and more about the psychological issues underlying that affliction. Indeed, in their numerous sessions together, Lionel turns out to be more psychotherapist than speech coach for a man who - due to his position as a member of a tightly circumscribed and stiff-upper-lipped monarchy - has no one but this comparative stranger to confide his innermost thoughts and feelings to. Clearly wise in the ways of human nature, Lionel rightly determines that Albert's affliction has less to do with any kind of physical ailment than with his bottled-up feelings towards his father, the unforgiving taskmaster King George V, and his older brother, Edward, Prince of Wales, whose own dalliance with a divorced American commoner leads him to abdicate the throne after only a short period, thereby clearing the way for Albert to assume his rightful place as England's king. Lionel determines that, more than anything else, it's fear – of humiliating himself in public, of failing to live up to the standards set by a demanding and uncompromising father, of not being able to fulfill the duties his royal birth has thrust upon him – that is the real underlying cause of Albert's problem. And Lionel, commoner though he may be, isn't shy about confronting the king with some frank truths about himself when he deems it necessary. He even insists on addressing his royal pupil as "Bertie," the nickname only his immediate family could previously use. And, of course, the stuttering itself becomes a part of a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle, as it continually eats away at not only Albert's image of himself as a man but his confidence as the individual who's just been handed the heavy burden of leading a beleaguered and frightened nation through the perilous days of World War II.
Firth and Rush are both magnificent in their roles, establishing an amazing chemistry between them, as the royal and the commoner brush aside the arbitrary distinctions of division and class to meet on the ground of their common humanity. Firth never overplays the stuttering, and the expressions of pain and frustration that periodically flit across his face when he's trying so desperately to be understood make us empathize with his predicament entirely. Likewise, Rush has never seemed more relaxed and confident than he does here, providing a perfect foil for the king's faltering self-confidence. In lesser hands, the role of Lionel could easily have degenerated into low comedy buffoonery, but Rush never gives in to the temptation, giving us instead a richly shaded and thoughtfully understated portrayal of the character.
There is fine work too by Helena Bonham Carter as Albert's devoted and supportive wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York; an English-accented Guy Pearce as Edward, Prince of Wales; Derek Jacobi as the Archbishop of Canterbury; Anthony Andrews as Stanley Baldwin, and Claire Bloom as Albert's mother, Queen Mary.
But the film is Firth's and Rush's all the way.