Why did it take so long to find and film such a wonderful story

Rating: Null/10 (5 March 2011)

"The King's Speech" opens very much like how "The green mile" (1999) ends, where the condemned prisoner walks towards the execution chamber to meet the electric chair. Here, the Duke of York (Colin Firth), later King George VI, walked the same devastatingly agonizing walk to meet the microphone, to open the 1925 British Empire Exhibition. A little bit later, a scene where a mediocre speech teacher tried to have him articulate his speech by speaking with marbles in his mouth could have been taken directly from the script of "My fair lady" (1964), except that Eliza Doolittle actually swallowed one of the marbles.
While in the last several decades people have been commenting on how the television has completely changed the landscape of politics, it should be remembered that still another half-century earlier, electronic broadcasting did the same thing. While public figures way back then were lucky that they did not have to look good, they needed to speak well. That is essentially the story of this movie – how a duke who could barely cope with the adverse effect of his stammer on his public life found himself in much deeper water, when he unexpectedly became king and, even worse, a wartime king. On a loftier plane, it is not only the story of how a man conquers his specific handicap, but how he conquers childhood-rooted fears, matures and gains confidence, to become a king.
There is another story, a man-to-man story that reminds you of movies such as "The singer not the song" (1961), "Sleuth" (1972 and 2007), "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) and easily dozens more. You'll see polarized confrontational conflict, as well as mutual tolerance and recognition as you would in these other movies. In "The King's speech" the other party is eccentric speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian with no more credentials than actual life experience. (It's interesting to see that Australian was not the only "foreign" element that helps the King here. One of the effective tools he used when he had difficulties uttering the words was to sing them through American Stephen Foster familiar melodies).
One has to wonder why it would take so long for such a wonderful true story to be discovered and filmed. The answer is of course too clear. George's story has always been overshadowed by the most popularized of royal stories: that of the Duke of Windsor (Guy Pearce) or King Edward VIII before his abdication to marry twice-divorced American Willis Simpson. The unexpected turn of events is the focal turning point of the story culminating towards a stupendously satisfying conclusion, the titular speech KGVI made at the gathering storm of WWII, uniting his country to face an epic war against Nazi Germany.
Firth's performance well deserves his Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA plus a whole slew of other awards, particularly in the titular speech delivered - perfection that was sprinkled with imperfections. The Best Picture Oscar is also well deserved, a movie that is entertaining, elating and elevating. But if I have my way I would trade Tom Hooper's Best Director Oscar for a win by Rush as Best Supporting Actor, who is much more deserving. Unfortunately, Oscars are given too freely to howling-and-wailing acting; subtleties and nuances are not as appreciated as they should be. Even more relevant, Hollywood must save some awards for home-grown movies.
The Best Screenplay Oscar is also well deserved. If I were writing some of the script, in the scene when Duchess of York (Helena Bonham Carter), later Queen Elizabeth (and still later Queen Mother) first visited Logue, when he asked "How did you find me", I would have had her quipped "Very rude". But fortunately, David Seidler would not stoop to such cheap gags. He wrote sparkling exchanges such as when Logue called all of George's previous physicians idiots, the latter retorted saying that they were all knighted. "Well, that makes it official", Logue quietly quipped.
I have seen Bonham Carter in all kind of weird, grotesque roles, even as an ape, but I've never seen her so BEAUTIFUL, in a very literal sense. The role is also beautifully portrayed, a loving, supporting, caring wife rising above mere royalty. But it is not sufficient a role to win an Oscar, however well played, so I have no complaints of her not winning. Other supporting roles are all magnificent, led by Pearce. It's wonderful to see Claire Bloom, after all these years, graceful and regal as Queen Mary. Michael Gambon as KGV, Timothy Spall as Churchill and Eve Best as Wallis Simpson are all splendid. The one I really love, however, is Jennifer Ehle as Myrtle Logue, with the same spellbinding charm as in "Possession" (2002) although Christabel LaMotte was a very different character