Movie reviews this week looks at the autobiographical drama The King's speech.
It stars the stalwart Colin Firth (The Picture of Dorian Gray) as the king in question; King George the VI, and a notably well deserved Oscar for a fantastic performance. His wife the late Queen Mother is played by the dependable Helena Bonham-Carter (Fight Club, Alice in Wonderland). It also stars the brilliant Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the King's speech therapist, you may better recognise him as the antagonist of Capt. Jack; Capt Barbosa in Pirates of the Caribbean.
We join the movie as the Duke of York, Prince Albert (his name prior to becoming King) is at a horse racing event, and as is customary with members of the Royal family has to give an address during such public events, but Prince Albert has a stammering problem since child hood, that prevents him from doing just that, and the speech goes pretty badly by all standards, as he is unable to complete it without stammering to the dismay of the crowd. With the widespread use of radio becoming more prevalent into the 20th century, the Prince realises that events requiring him to speak publicly are going to be much more routine, and with the help of his endearing wife, who seeks out the speech therapist Logue.
There is an amusing scene on how Logue and the Duchess of York first meet, as to how the Royal family are treated in those days, she introduces herself to Logue as Mrs. Johnson, Logue nonchalantly asks for her husband to come along in person next time, and leaves the room, she asks just as he heads out of ear shot "And what if my husband were the Duke of York"? To which Logue as expectedly changes his tone.
The Duke eventually meets Logue, and although his techniques are unorthodox, the reluctant Prince makes more progress than with all the other speech therapists he has seen, and through their sessions, we get to learn about the two men, one trying to cure a childhood illness as his worst fear that his brother is about to abdicate the throne and leave him with the responsibility is about to come to pass, and the other trying to make amends for a failed dream.
The King's Speech is a fantastic historical drama, and the acting from such seasoned veterans are of course superb, you are captivated all through, albeit the general story is well known historically. There is a cameo by Guy Pearce (Memento) as the older brother, Prince David whose relationship with Wallis Simpson sends the monarchy into uncharted waters.
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