The King8217;s Speech

The Kings Speech will long remain a towering cinematic presence about a monarch who survived a speech impediment and delivered stirring speeches.

This years most felicitated film The Kings Speech has garnered seven BAFTAs,four Academy Awards including Best Picture,Best Director and Best Actor; and seven Golden Globes,with Colin Firth winning for Best Actor. Arguably Colin Firth and director Tom Hooper and The Kings Speech are the years pick.

The Kings Speech tells the story of a man compelled to speak to the world with a stammer. The film opens with Prince Albert Bertie attempting to open the British Empire Exhibition in 1925. Before a crowded arena and a radio audience,he seizes up in agony in efforts to make the words come out right. His father,George V,always considered Bertie superior to Edward,but mourns the introduction of radio and newsreels,which require a monarch to be seen and heard on public occasions.

Berties wife,Elizabeth,has utter sympathy for her husband. As Edwards obsession with Wallis Simpson becomes more than apparent,Elizabeth goes all out to protect her husband from more public humiliation. A few failed sessions with speech therapists leads her to seek out a failed Australian actor named Lionel Logue,who has set up a speech therapy practice.

Unaware at first who is consulting him,Logue suggests to Albert that they get on a first-name basis. Albert,who has been raised within the bell jar of the monarchy,objects to such familiarity. But Logue realises that if he is to become the kings therapist,he must first become his friend. Together Logue and Albert work on his speech,his innermost fears and his physical fitness. Finally,the King speaks to his subjects on the eve of Britain going to war against Germany,with only Logue present in the room.

Director Tom Hoopers mastery has made The Kings Speech a visually arresting and impactful film. Largely shot in interiors,Hooper has used long and narrow spaces,rather than the expansive areas that are so typical to historical dramas,which emphasise sweep and majesty,etc. Here,instead there are long corridors,etc. in a way reflecting Prince Alberts claustrophobic and restrained upbringing?

David Sedlers script movingly tells the story of a mans struggle against his speech impediment; no ordinary man but one who is in line of succession,as we see in the opening sequences. He finally triumphs with the help of his speech coach who understands his students psychological bent.

The film largely pivots around Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush; where one is formal,restrained and a picture of diffidence; the other is expansive,demanding and gregarious. Firth delivers a class performance; nuanced and heart- rending. Rush is unrelenting as Logue and has delivered his career-best performance. Both Firth and Rush have well deserved their awards. Helena Bonham Carter plays Princess Elizabeth with mercy,tact and love for her husband this is the woman who became the much-loved Queen Mother,yet she doesnt spare Wallis Simpson a royal snub.

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As the men have a battle of wills,she tries to smooth things. As Hitler takes power,war comes closer,Mrs Simpson wreaks havoc,and the dreaded day approaches when Bertie,as George VI,will have to speak to the world and declare war. Hoopers handling of that fraught scene is masterful. Firth internalises his tension and keeps the required stiff upper lip,but his staff and household are terrified on his behalf as he marches toward a microphone as if a lamb to the slaughter house. It is the one scene in the film that must work,and it does,and its emotional impact is surprisingly strong. At the end,what we have here is a superior historical drama and a powerful personal one. And two opposites who remain friends for the rest of their lives.

The Kings Speech will long remain a towering cinematic presence about a monarch who survived a speech impediment and delivered stirring speeches.

RATING:

Four stars for direction,script,performances and the overall production values.