Interestingly enough, I saw The King’s Speech in the same art house that I saw The Queen in when my kids were babies. I didn’t find these two films to be all that dissimilar. Both films are about the regal monarchy in England and present life inside the castle. They also both thrive on terrific performances, Helen Mirren in The Queen and in this case, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.
The King’s Speech stars Firth as the Duke of York. He struggles with stammering and overcomes it before the onset of WWII – thanks to the help of unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, played by Rush. It’s a true story, which is amazing, given the circumstances. The King was thrust onto the throne when his real-life brother (played by Guy Pearce) backed down, leaving him in command of a country at war and in a serious situation in the late 1930s. Upon learning of his responsibility, he tells his wife, “The nation believes that when I speak, I speak for them. But I can’t speak.”
Firth plays the King with such grace. He plays a flawed man, who must accept his weaknesses and deal with a speech impediment that he has had since he was a child, and was never clearly helped with by his family. His strong-willed wife, played excellently by Helena Bonham Carter (how I have missed her in these types of films! Remember A Room with a View and Howard’s End – OK, now I am going to go have a Merchant Ivory film fest in my house this weekend!) finds a renowned Australian speech therapist, played by Rush, with a modern and “controversial” method, who helps him understand and conquer his stammer using tongue twisters, swearing, stomping around and by telling him to speak his words “as a friend”. The King is afraid of giving speeches to the nation, particularly after his first one goes so badly. Upon seeing Hitler speak to his nation, he tells his wife, “I do not know him, but he said it very well.” He longs to speak like a leader. During the King’s final speech in the film to the nation about Hitler and the Nazi invasion, Logue stays in the room with with him while the King records a radio broadcast and it is clear that a lifetime friendship has been made, despite its slow start. Logue apparently stayed with him during his reign and was made a part of the Royal Order in 1937.
My main complaint about this movie is that I would have liked to have had more time spent on the historical period that was going on around the time this movie was based on. However, the movie does give you good insight to the royal family and seeing Firth, Rush, Carter and Pearce on one screen is an immeasurable treat.
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