Undeniably Deserving of the Oscar It Won

Rating: 10/10 (18 April 2014)

2010 was quite the year in film, if not for filmmakers themselves, then for me; of the ten Best Picture nominated movies of the new decade, I have seen six. Though sixty percent may seem low to some, I assure you that, even for a film fanatic like myself, this is a relatively high number. Accordingly, I cannot speak for 'The Social Network', 'The Fighter', 'Winter's Bone', or 'True Grit'--at least not yet, though the former two are on my movie 'Watch List'. However, the remaining six are a different story.
Now, at the time of its win, I had not yet seen 'The King's Speech'. I was too young for it; I was too uninterested in it; I was too concerned with other movies to see it. The idea behind the film seemed a bit tedious, a bit long-winded, no pun intended--I knew nothing about King George VI and his struggles, nor did I much care to.
Last summer, I finally rented the movie upon the recommendation of my father and others. By this point, I was a fan of both Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, and was sure, even if the movie was not for me, that they would make the film at least bearable. They definitely delivered, as did the movie.
I'm not exactly sure what it was I expected from the film. Be it great acting, excellent cinematography, well-structured plot, whatever--it resonated with me. Colin Firth's stutter was not only convincing, but emotional--you could feel his frustration and his pain in his words. Spatially, the cinematography succeeded admirably. As with another Firth film, 'A Single Man', the color scheme was muted considerably to match the mood of the picture, rightfully so. There is a much longer list of compliments about this film somewhere in my brain, but I won't list them all.
Fantastic. But deserving of the Oscar? The academy thought so, and I have to agree. 'Inception' was too flashy, reliant mostly on CGI to tell its story; 'Black Swan' was too unbelievably intense; 'The Kids Are All Right' was too filled with unnecessary dramatics projected by an only somewhat sensible betrayal; 'Toy Story 3' was too contrived, forced into a franchise that did not need such a definite ending. '127 Hours' was a winner most people would not be angry over, though it was too one- note in comparison to the actual winner.
'The King's Speech' wasn't 'too' anything. It was, on the surface, the story of one important man's struggle with speech. Below that, however, it was so much more: in Bertie's problems with speech lie problems with identity, because language and communication lay the brickwork for identity, but what if said brickwork is flawed? What happens to that identity in such a case--is it erased, ruined? This film highlighted that struggle among a strong friendship and equally heartwarming and heartbreaking scenes. It was a movie that championed in multiple areas, instead of just one or two.
This is not to say that the other Oscar-nominated films of 2010 were necessarily bad movies; they simply paled in comparison to 'The King's Speech'. 'The King's Speech' was a film that succeeded; it was a film that left one feeling satisfied with the time and money they spent; it was a film that will hold up for generations to come. And that is sufficient criteria for a Best Picture-winning movie.