The King’s Speech

 

101 Ways to Win an Oscar

The Films That Tick All The Boxes

(2011)

Dir: Tom Hooper

Spit it out, old boy.

Who cares about the Royal family?

That was my feeling going into Tom Hooper’s The King Speech, starring Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as the Australian speech therapist helping him to overcome his impediment.

Despite all the positive things I had already heard about it, let’s be honest here, when you have a strong political opinion, it’s going to affect certain things you do. My anti-royalist sentiments didn’t really come into play during Inception or Toy Story 3 - though I’ll be damned if that Buzz Lightyear isn’t an allegory for Western Capitalism’s influence on the rest of the world - but they can’t help but be aroused by a film all about the monarchy.

Ah, but therein lies the dilemma. Is it just simply ‘a film about the monarchy’? Or it a film about a man struggling to overcome a problem, who just happens to be the future King of England? There is an argument that says that given the time and setting of this film, the actual subject matter just seems utterly ridiculous and unimportant. Here we are, supposed to empathise with stuttering aristocrat, when the country is on the brink of war. Indeed, I don’t think it is too much of a spoiler to say that the film’s climactic sequence involves old Bertie gasping his way through announcing that we are war with Germany. Uh … yay? Not quite sure what to make of that.

But the thing about The King’s Speech is that, though the above is certainly true, there can be no denying the strength of the performances. The film itself might be riddled with clichés and “Really?” moments - such as Helena Bonham Carter’s pleasant performance as a surprisingly likeable Queen Mother. Not sure how accurate that was – the central efforts from both Firth and Rush are so mesmerizing that it’s impossible not to have a big fat smile on your face when Georgie boy finally spits out his last word. It is also helped by a booming and inspiring Beethoven soundtrack, and when is that not a good thing?

It might not be the greatest film of all time like some are lauding it. It may be pompous and silly and insignificant in parts. But there can be simply no denying that The King’s Speech isn’t an enjoyable piece of foppish English cinema.

**** / *****