Beautiful film, even with some weaknesses

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2011)

A beautiful film overall. It was obvious the film was focusing on a single issue, which was the king's speech impediment and his relationship with those immediately surrounding him. This was perhaps the film's strength and weakness. A strength in terms of the originality of the concept, and a weakness in the sense that the war seemed like an insignificant backdrop to the main story. This ran the risk of making the king's concern over his speech impediment seem a little too self absorbing. In reality however, the monarchy of the time was highly regarded for its concern for the people, eg the queen's refusal to leave London when it was being bombed. I therefore think the film could have brought out a little more of the context, in order to make it the perfect film. Still, it was such a moving and elegant film and the performances were wonderful. Helena Bonham Carter was made for the role of the Queen (mother)!