Rating: ****
In the spirit of renewed interest in the British Royal Family thanks to the upcoming nuptials of a certain prince, perhaps the timing is serendipitous for a bio-pic of Prince Williams’ great grandfather, a man who understood very well the importance of looking good in front of the media, if only because he was powerless before it. Ruling in the age of the radio, it’s almost like something out of story book to think that this man that wasn’t originally supposed to be King, was hampered in his public speaking by a stammer. All the more so given that he became King in a time when his countrymen would need to hear his voice the most.
Impeccably cast and directed with a light touch by Tom Hooper, THE KING’S SPEECH is everything a movie like this should be: inspiring, thoughtful, dramatic, dynamic, and with a touch of humour as well. It’s easy to see why so many have become enamoured with this movie, and admittedly, it’s hard not to walk away enamoured yourself. It’s a real life fairy tale based on a true story. A king-to-be, felled by a weakness he must overcome to save his people after they’re abandoned out of selfishness and pettiness by his brother. It’s the stuff of legend.
Fortunately, the actors keep things very real. Colin Firth is the future King George VI, who we first see stumble through a simple pronouncement, and you get the sense that this isn’t the first time that this Prince has had trouble getting through a speech. His wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) visits a speech therapist off the beaten track named Lionel Longe (Geoffrey Rush) to see if there’s anything he can do for her husband. Longe, a failed actor from Australia who does speech therapy as a way to make money, uses his unconventional techniques to help the Prince, and starts to get results as the British throne faces one of its greatest challenges.
Firth is great, a natural at conveying a kingliness that can be at once commanding and yet loaded with self-doubt. I glad that there weren’t a lot of “pity me” moments for this King, and that the story focuses more on his confrontation against his affliction and the camaraderie that develops between the King and Longe as they work to overcome the King’s speech. Interestingly, the solution is less about beating the stammer as it is about using it, but the film does a great job in portraying how difficult it is to overcome a stammering affliction.
But I’m not sure the film would have worked as well with Rush’s relaxed charm as Longe, a man whose life could not have been too relaxed as he was trying to help the King of England address the British people on the eve of World War II, or any day before that for that matter. Rush’s cool head and confidence makes you believe that this was a man who could get away with calling the King “Bertie” and the way it’s played between Firth and Rush makes you believe that George VI was a King that would let it slide.
But the film isn’t all speech lessons and phonetics, there’s some serious drama in the mix as well. Most of it concerns George’s elder brother King Edward VII, who ascended to the throne after their father George V died. Edward VII of course abdicated when he was too infatuated with American divorcee Wallis Simpson that he either had to give her up or give up the throne. History shows how self-centred Edward was and how he basically shirked his duty to God and Country for the lust of a woman who was known to many. Edward isn’t played too broadly, but it would be somewhat incorrect to say that he isn’t a bigger villain in the film than Hitler.
Still, the film isn’t so much about outer conflict as it is about internal conflict. It’s about fulfilling one’s duty and making it our own despite our fallibilities. It’s about the rewards of hard work, perseverance and determination. All these are quality lessons for any story, and of course, the basic building blocks for any good movie looking for Oscar gold. THE KING’S SPEECH treads lightly the ground between sentimental and cynical and the result is a winning drama, which is, essentially, a two hour long build-up to a guy giving a three minute speech.
