The King's Speech (2010)

The King’s Speech (2010)

By Ralph Santini - ****

One of the most compelling films of this ongoing decade, “The King’s Speech” delivers one of the richest dramatizations in the history of biography filmmaking. It is also one of the finest period pieces of this century so far. This film won four academy awards including Best Picture of 2010 along with Best Actor by Colin Firth, Best Director by Tom Hooper and even Best Original Screenplay by David Seidler. Whether I agree with the academy or not, this remarkable British drama contains a triumphant performance by Firth as King George VI and he followed the rules quite brilliantly with the help of Tom Hooper’s fantastic direction.

The film centers on the true historical facts about King George’s uncomfortable stammering and he tries finding plenty of therapists but most of them are unsuccessful until one with a rather notorious reputation turns out to be quite possibly the best he will use even if George doesn’t like it at the beginning. Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush doing a terrific job himself) a veteran actor from Australia doesn’t get much attention from casting directors in the British theatre but since he has to earn a living he works as a speech therapist and decides to help George in spite of his constant pain. The main problem for George V in life is that his older brother Edward VIII (Guy Pearce also excellent) is doing a sacrilegious plan to marry a twice divorced American woman named Wallis Simpson (Eve Best from Showtime’s Nurse Jackie) and it disgruntles King George V (a brief but still brilliant job by Michael Gambon) strongly.  George V, aside from handling quite an adventure with Lionel, is also constantly supported by his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter, with well-done acting herself) and she will do anything to help her loving husband become a successful King by battling his strained stammering.

My first topic for my analysis of this modern British gem is going to be the characterization of King George VI by Colin Firth in one of the very best roles in his long career. King George VI had a very bad upbringing when he was a 4 to 5 years old and that very much affected his speech for the rest of his life. He comes from a family that became part of The United Kingdom’s monarch three years before World War I started. We all know that the period between the World Wars is often called by Historians “The Interwar Period” and it was a very risky time in the West because since Germany’s loss for World War I many Germans felt they wanted revenge on the allied countries that won the war. Enter Adolph Hitler, with the Nazi party his sympathizers founded in 1920, he took over the party a year later so in twelve years’ time he could take over The Weimar Republic and turn it into The Third Reich. The United Kingdom was one of the Reich’s most perfect targets for Hitler’s plan to destroy it. That very much affected George’s Family and this made it difficult for them to raise him good. George at the beginning looks like he can’t make it to make a good speech for a horse racing event and that’s where it all begins with his search for a perfect therapist. It’s not easy for George because the last therapist he attends before Lionel is an old crackpot with a hoary old method in which even Elizabeth complaints that it only worked with an ancient Greek politician. This old therapist also claims that cigarette smoking can calm a man’s nerves before he prescribes George to put some balls in his mouth for his speech impediment. The main problem with smoking (particularly cigarette smoking) is that those things can kill people and even Lionel knows it’s dangerous. It’s no wonder why George VI died in real life of Lung Cancer at age 56. Another frustrating obstacle George faces is when George V gives the Royal Christmas speech of 1934 he decided that because his infidel elder son is unfit for coronation he gives his decision to give the throne to George rather than Edward. George obviously thinks that’s not fair to him at first but when he does notice Edward still being strongly in love with Wallis he has no choice but to snitch the British parliament (who in fact have been more in charge in politics for years than the Royal Monarchs) of Edward’s sacrilege and then they abdicate him, making George VI the new king of England.

My second topic for my analysis is George’s relation with Lionel Logue, a speech defects therapist who is willing to help in every way for George to become a competent King. George like I’ve said previously, doesn’t even want the sessions with Lionel and firmly distrusts him. The main reason George would go on with the sessions is because of a surprise gift he received from Lionel about a self-recording of reciting Hamlet’s famous “To Be Or Not To Be” soliloquy while hearing Mozart on a pair of headphones. That seems like a very good way to lead George into helping him trust the good-natured Lionel and things do get better and better, in spite of future disagreements between the patient and the therapist. The difference between George and Lionel is that George’s life is surrounded by tradition and high society in the UK, while the Australian-born free thinking Lionel has a life where he can be more flexible and more comprehensible to humanity. That’s why I enjoyed the great chemistry between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush’s respective performances as the rigid Monarch and the liberal-minded therapist. The chemistry is not only the film’s greatest asset, it’s the story. The true story of a rich monarch who needed help from a humble therapist to become the King of England during World War II where Firth gives a great reenactment of his speech concerning the War.

This is a very important film, especially when it comes to the history of the interwar period, because it tells us about the dynasty of Monarchs that go beyond just the stories of Lady Di and the Royal weddings of the century. It’s about their role in their contribution to World War II one of my favorite subjects of history. It also contains one of Colin Firth’s greatest performances in the history of his ongoing career and he is very well supported by especially Geoffrey Rush who is absolutely terrific in the role of the speech therapist who sacrifices plenty for the sake of humanity in which a great portion has been destroyed in World War II.