The Kings Speech

British film The Kings Speech is one such film that falls into this category, in my own opinion of course. The difference being that this held my attention throughout and I was endeared to the characters immensely. Directed by Tom Hooper, from which I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any of his previous work and starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter (in a role where she’s perfectly normal, nonetheless) and Guy Pearce in the lead roles.

Colin Firth gets his award at BAFTA but did you ever want to know why whit out even watching because The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation. So not hard to understand why gets alot of attention at BAFTA.

The story begins with the calm before the almighty storm that was World War II. King George V is terminally ill, rumors of war are brewing and the successor to the throne, Prince Edward (Pearce), is hardly in any state to take on the role of becoming King, due to his frivolous nature and infatuation with a divorced woman whom he cannot marry under Monarch law. The prince, after the passing of the King, takes the mantle but for a short time until abdicating himself leaving his younger brother, Albert (Firth), with the daunting task of ruling a nation and the Commonwealth.

Though ‘Bertie’, as he is affectionately called, is well educated and certainly a better match for the position, he has one major problem. He can barely string a sentence together without stuttering which only becomes much, much worse when under the pressure of speaking publicly. Not a great image for a King. The uncomfortable feeling when he does have to address a large crowd is palpable and so well portrayed by Firth that you’d think he actually has a speech impediment.

Albert’s wife, Elizabeth (Carter), has put him through all manner of speech therapists with crazy methods and notions, but to no avail and leaving Albert visibly disgruntled with the whole mess. The sheer frustration comes right out of the screen at you, I really did feel for the man. His short temper didn’t help the situation at all either, though you can sympathize with him as he comes across as a genuine leader with the nous to get the job done and effectively lead a nation to war. It’s here that Elizabeth makes a last ditch effort to see just one more speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Rush). An Australian with some very unorthodox methods and a penchant for informality, even if his patient is royalty.

His blunt manner has Albert on the backfoot, right from first moment they meet, leaving Albert rattled but equally intrigued by the man. And thus begins a friendship which helps shape Bertie into the future King George VI. The film is certainly not without it’s funny moments which helps break up the serious nature of it all. An outbreak of swearing by Albert being of particular note.

My initial reaction after reading the synopsis to the film, before seeing it, was of disdain toward the whole story. My thoughts were with poor soldiers that had been sent by their hundreds of thousands to their deaths to fight in WWII and not with a King who has a problem with his vocal skills. However, the director went about imbuing a real sense of importance and urgency to the situation over such an, at first, seemingly simple problem and has to be applauded.

Come Oscar time, I’m sure it will be. I now think this film should stand a little higher on the list than another fantastic contender about a smart guy who underhandedly creates a social networking website. The issues faced by King George VI were very real and very important in leading the nation at a time of uncertainty. Strong leadership was required, and in the end, was what they received.

This is truly an important story to be told and one I’m sure not many people were aware of, myself included. If your looking for fast cuts and explosions you certainly won’t find them here. This is all about the characters and the minutiae of interactions between them. You’ll empathize with them, feel for them and love them. And that is what makes a film memorable and truly great.

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