They say that people fear public speaking more than death, or in the case of The King’s Speech, more than ascending the throne. And it is two men’s journey to overcome it that is the basis of this very powerful movie.
Colin Firth plays Prince Albert, the Duke of York, who has a stammer. The film opens with Albert painfully making his way through a speech in 1925. He endures many speech therapists, including one who encourages him to smoke (as it reputedly helped to relax the muscles) and tries to make him talk with marbles in his mouth. His wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a failed Australian actor, who has a gift for helping shell-shocked soldiers and stammerers overcome their affliction.
Logue uses some “antipodean, unorthodox and controversial” methods. He asks the duke to read some Shakespeare while listening to loud music, and his speech is clean. It becomes obvious it is the conflict between childhood insecurity and royal duty that causes the stammer; the scene with King George V (Michael Gambon) explains it with nice subtlety.
Logue insists patients meet at his offices, and use first names. And the duke is not allowed to smoke. When he points out his physicians encouraged it, Logue calls them “idiots”. “They have all been knighted,” says the duke. “Well, that makes it official,” Logue retorts.
It is this sort of witty, sharp dialogue that punctuates this grand film, which is intimately and crisply shot and allows these two great actors to produce scenes that vary from funny to gripping. Rush is cheeky and engrossing as the Australian larrikin while Firth plays the blusterous duke with great sympathy. This is great acting in tandem, rather than duelling, and director Tom Hooper has these two on a loose reign, without either going too far.
Their story is interwoven with the problems brought on by Prince David’s (Guy Pearce) dalliance with a Mrs Simpson and a stubborn German named Hitler driving Europe to the brink of war, and the need for a stable monarch to lead Great Britain. When King George V passes away, these are all brought to a head.
In the end, this is a “buddy film” about Lionel and Bertie, whose relationship is fraught but grows strong over time. As in any relationship, the need to accept, respect and forgive is vividly illustrated. Set against the backdrop of Edward’s illicit relationship with Mrs Simpson, the complicated relationship Albert had with his father and brother, and the start of World War II, gives the film its rich and authoritative backdrop.
The final scene is laden with irony and emotional power, and never has giving a speech resonated so richly. The King’s Speech will be an Oscar-worthy film due to its strong script and rich acting, which doesn’t rely on its royal connection to impress; it should inspire more than just Academy Awards.
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