Review for The King's Speech

The King's Speech is deserving of every award it has won, especially anything Firth won (which seemed to be everything). Despite the very Britishness of the film it is one that people from all walks of life and all countries should be able to appreciate and enjoy.The King's Speech should tell the story of the trials that faced Prince Albert the Duke of York (Colin Firth) during the Abdication Crisis of 1936 and England's position before the Second World War. Instead, it tells the story of how during all this Prince Albert affectionately called 'Bertie' must overcome a stammer in order to take on this focal role of Head of State and Voice of the Nation. As the film begins, we see Bertie unable to give a speech and it is heartbreaking to see him stutter over words and pause after almost every word. Having seen every specialist in the land he seeks the help of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) who has a rather unorthodox way of teaching and rather than treat the Prince as Royalty he treats him just like any other patient. Sceptical at first of his methods, Bertie begins to improve and finds that with the Abdication of Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) he must now take his place as King George VI. This all cumulates with a speech that he must give to inform England that they are at war with Germany again. But only with the help of Lionel Logue can he do this. The King's Speech is a very British film and yet it has been universally praised and successful with a haul of Oscars, Golden Globes, Screen Actors/Producers and Director's Guild Awards. Most of these have gone to Colin Firth's masterful performance. It would have been quite easy to portray Bertie as a stuttering buffoon like Michael Palin's Ken in A Fish Called Wanda, but instead he played this dead straight and by doing so every time he stutters, stops or pauses you can feel the tension and you simply ache for him to speak. Rush's performance as Logue is a wonderful as is Bonham Carter's, but you can understand why most of the praise has gone to Firth. And rightfully so. I found this film to be simple and enjoyable. Despite the fact that the screenwriters played a little with the facts you can understand why they did this and this tinkering made it a better movie rather than just a dramatic reconstruction of the past. The score is beautiful, the look of the film is too and this all adds up to a simply perfect film. Extras include a commentary by Director Tom Hooper which is interesting though he really needed someone to discuss his stories with I think, a great behind the scenes documentary and an interview with Lionel Logue's grandson and co-author of the book The King's Speech Mark Logue which actually makes me curious enough to go out and find the book to read. Also included are two speeches from the real King George VI which is fascinating and show just how amazing Colin Firth was in embodying the character of the King. Production sketches, Photo gallery and a trailer round up a great selection of extras for a wonderful film.