The King's Speech Review- by Michael Carlisle

 
Title: The King's Speech
Year: 2010 
Director: Tom Hooper
Country: UK
Language: English

 

Usually I brush off British royal time period film as I find them completely pretentious and boring. The King's Speech however is quite an exception. The writing is witty,clever and very dramatic and the acting is spectacular. The King's Speech is a noteworthy biopic about how King George VI, played by the awe inspiring Colin Firth, overcame his speech impairments in a time when radio broadcasts were abundant and great speech was not only useful but absolutely necessary for the leaders of the world. Overshadowed by powerful speakers such as Adolph Hitler, Mussolini and even his brother, King George VI seeks help from a controversial Australian speech therapist named Lionel Louge (Geoffry Rush) so that he can overcome his problem and lead his people through WW2.

 Colin Firth blew me away as King George VI, he had a certain depth to his character that I didn't realize could be portrayed in a British Royal. I forgot that British Royals were human until I saw Firth portray the King and display the suffering that King George VI had. He not only did suffer because of his speech problem but because of his family problems (his nanny was neglectful, he was emotionally distant with his father), his want to be heard but not able to because he's a royal and royal's shouldn't have such worries, they should be powerful. I found a scene quite interesting in the film, it has to be my favourite scene. Firth is watching Hitler making his speeches and admired him saying "I don't know what he's saying, but he is a very good speaker." his face is that of admiration but as he keeps watching he realized that something is horribly wrong and within seconds his face changes from great admiration to great worry. It is a transition that only a great actor could make. He will win an Oscar for his acting I am sure of it.

 There are many themes in The King's Speech all of which all slowly surfaced throughout all of the film. I've never quite understood how hard it was to be a royal until this film, it must be a somewhat hard life to fake almost everything you do, to lie to yourself and keep everything held inside. You can do what you want...or you can do what is right for the people. However, what is right for the people is not really in the best interest of yourself. It is a clash of personal happiness vs overcoming your fears on behalf of your country. The most notable theme that I found in this film was "everyone has a voice." I loved the part where Lionel tells King George VI about how he met some WWI veterans who were having heavy cases of post traumatic stress disorder all because they felt nobody was listening and nobody cared. It was beautifully touching.

We should also note the severity of speech disorders, it not only causes great embarrassment but could also ruin that particular person’s life. What would’ve happened to King George VI if he couldn’t get over his stammer? How could anybody hold any type of non-physical labour job with speech problems? Therefore they should be taken much more seriously, as it is particularly life threatening to have a speech disorder and they are not so easy to rid.

 In conclusion, you can view King’s Speech as pure entertainment, you can enjoy it for the various humanistic themes, or you can view it as a window into British history during the tensions leading up to WW2. Anyway you choose to look at King’s Speech will work and it will work well. 3.5/5