Confronting Change and Overcoming Adversity

Rating: 10/10 (31 May 2013)

Within ten minutes of watching this movie it became very clear that this movie deserves a 10. While it is not one that I would buy and watch numerous times, it is a movie that everybody should see at least once. It will have an effect upon you, as it had an effect upon me.
The period is the 1930's and the world is in turmoil. As some people say, the world was in the middle of the 'Great War of 1914 to 1945', but others, myself included, do not see a single war, but rather two wars which sandwiched a period of great prosperity and great poverty. It was also a period of great technological change as we saw the development of flight, radio, and many other things that have changed our lives. This movie is about the Duke of York (Colin Firth), who is the second in line to the English Throne, and has a stammer, as he puts it. This period of change is very important to this character where as previously he could hide in his throne room and the population would hear little from him, now it was expected that they make public speeches, and this is the duke's weakness. He cannot speak in public.
As such, they try everything to attempt to get him over this hurdle, and finally fall upon a speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffery Rush), to help him overcome it. What we see though is that the problem is not necessarily physical, but mental, as Logue explains, and even demonstrates. However the Duke is a very stubborn individual, and while he does want to get rid of his stammer, he is very proud, and has great difficulty opening himself up to Logue. I guess these are the two core themes of this movie: overcoming adversity and learning humility.
The king (or rather the man who becomes the king) must understand that he is not a perfect individual, and that is one of the things that seems to constantly keep him back. As a prince he is very influential, but as the king, he is more so. While at the beginning of the movie it does not seem that it will be likely that he will assume his father's role (he is the second born), when his brother abdicates after his position become untenable (he is in love with a divorced woman with alleged connections to the Nazi's), he finds that he is suddenly taking on a role that he had not been groomed for, though it turns out that many of Britain's leadership have preferred him to his brother (since his brother is more of a playboy than a leader, even if a leader in name only).
We see through the movie the growth of the king's character, but also the growth of the friendship between him and Logue. In fact even though it turns out that Logue is not a trained medical practitioner (there was no such thing as a 'speech therapist', an allied health professional, in those days), it is the friendship and the trust that has developed between them that keeps the friendship strong. Further it is the king's willingness to humble himself before Logue, a commoner, that enables Logue to not only assist him overcome his hurdles, but also to stand tall as the King of England.