King’s Speech (The)

Genre: historical and personal drama

With: Colin Firth (the Duke of York, a.k.a. Bertie), Helena Bonham Carter (his wife Elizabeth), Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue), Jennifer Ehle (Myrtle, Lionel’s wife), Michael Gambon (King George V), Guy Pearce (the future King Edward, a.k.a. David), Derek Jacobi (Archbishop Cosmo Lang), Eve Best (Wallis Simpson), Timothy Spall (Winston Churchill)

Director: Tom Hooper

Screenplay: David Seidler

Release: 2010

Studio: Momentum Pictures, See-Saw Films, Bedlam Productions et al.

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.2/10





The Man Who Shouldn’t Be King

  



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Story-line: in 1925, when asked to deliver a speech at Wembley Stadium, the Duke of York utters only one sentence before falling silent. Nine years later, still searching for a cure to his impediment, he is led to Lionel Logue, an unorthodox Australian therapist.  

Pluses: a splendid acting duel between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, excellent support from Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon and Derek Jacobi, well-written dialogues tinged with startling cruelty and unexpected humour, a logical screenplay that features fresh insights and lovely set pieces, Tom Hooper’s flowing direction and Danny Cohen’s polished cinematography.

Minuses: the first 15 minutes are uninspiring but the story livens up once Lionel Logue makes his entrance. As a whole, this all-too-perfect film does feel like Oscar bait (it did win four statuettes, notably for Best Picture).  

Comments: if it had focused solely on the Duke’s stammering, THE KING’S SPEECH would have been a very competent albeit forgettable ‟disease” movie but, fortunately for us, other issues about the Duke – his personal ordeal, the political context of the times, the weight of royalty and conventions – elevate it above the routine. Its most effective segments – in my mind, anyway – involve little action, as when the two protagonists discuss life and try to help and/or upset each other. Of course, their mutual struggle is part of the well-worn ‟trials before triumph” formula…but one that yields fine results for Tom Hooper and crew.     




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