Last year we were offered The Young Victoria, a biopic about young Queen Victoria and her troubles when ascending to the throne. It was fairly well received but there was nothing special that separated from the hundreds of costume dramas that Hollywood turns out. This year we are taking another look at the British monarchy with The King's Speech and this time the actors take the material and transcend it beyond the ordinary.
There is something about Colin Firth that makes him extremely watchable. The first film I recall seeing him in was the English Patient. He was the only thing worth watching in that movie. Then he played the cad and buffoon in Shakespeare In Love. Next he was the love stricken Mark Darcy in Bridget Jone's Diary. Then in appeared as another man struggling with love in Love Actually and finally he gave the performance of his career as a man in the throes of despair in A Single Man. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in 2009. It was the best role of his career until this year when he takes on King George VI, the reluctant King with a speech impediment. Geoffrey Rush plays Lionel, a very unorthodox speech therapist and Helena Bonham Carter is Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen mother.
The story is pretty straight-forward, it tells of the turmoil that overtook the British crown in the 1930's when King George V passed away and the throne passed to King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) but Edward was in love with a woman and when forced to choose between her and the being King, he abdicated his throne to his younger brother Albert.
Albert was never expected to become King and had lived in the shadow of his older brother all his life. He father, King George V was a dominating but loving man who applied untold pressure on the younger son to live up to his name. For multiple reasons the young Albert had developed a stammer and stutter in his youth and had trouble speaking. He was totally incapable of making a public speech, something that was required more frequently with the advent of radio.
In desperation his wife Elizabeth turns to speech therapist Lionel Louge, whose unorthodox methods and familiar ways he talks to royalty are unnerving to say the least.
The film is about the special relationship that forms between Albert and Lionel and the performances Firth and Rush give are a joy to behold. These are consummate actors who disappear into the roles, the performances are not showy "look at me" roles. rather they seem to inhabit and become the people they represent.
Everyone else in the cast is equally up to the task of recreating the tumultuous events of the early 30's in great Britain. the production values are superb for this type of film and director Tom Hooper artfully uses the camera to help the audience experience the type of alienation and fear Albert feels every time he must open his mouth.
I guarantee Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor and the film will deserve all the accolades it gets. The King's Speech is one of the best movies of the year.
At The Movie House rating ****
At The Movie House also recommends
The Queen
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: The Golden Years
Young Victoria
Mrs. Brown
Madness Of King George
Anne of the Thousand Days
The Lion In Winter
A Man For All Seasons
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