The King's Speech

The King's Speech offers a well done, interesting period piece, focused on the final days of King Edward VIII's reign, into the early days of the reign of his younger brother, the much beloved King George VI. We first see the painfully shy Duke of York (future King George VI) giving a speech in public - with thousands of eyes on him and untold numbers more via radio. It's clear this is a man forced to overcome the very insecurities, fears, and personal weaknesses that have plagued his life under his father, King George V, and charismatic brother, King Edward VIII. Over the course of the film this young man, fiercely loyal to his nation and oath as king, overcomes this inability to speak with the help of a man who'd become a loyal friend until the king's final days. With his faithful wife, Elizabeth, at his side, George (Bertie to family and friends), takes steps to becoming the man who'd be respected and loved by his nation during WWII. Brilliant acting, well done direction, true to period, intelligent with the emotions of such an undertaking, and a great script, meld together to involve the audience with what it's like to stutter. To my understanding the challenge of stuttering can be seen as paralleling this very journey. True, most stutters will never take on the role of king, but that feeling of being out in public, on a constant stage of being seen, judged, made fun of, while trying to overcome a challenge. These familiar feelings can extend to other areas of everyone's life, bringing a story, emotions, and experiences of one man's overcoming to become all he could and needed to be, to every viewer.

Unlike one of the reviewers who brutally attacked the film as being shallow and boring, I found it very interesting and full of facts that many people are not aware of concerning the life of anyone in the monarchy of England. It isn't that I find that having a monarchy a necessary thing, however, that said, there are many things that the rest of the population isn't aware of that go on in the life of anyone who happens to be born into that life. It isn't all glamor and luxury, as it appears from the outside, these people often live very unhappy lives, because they are loyal to the duties that are placed upon them from birth. No, I am not from England, I just am very empathetic with anyone in a position of power and what the responsibility entails, especially when as in England, the position isn't always sought after, as was the case with King Edward VI. And no, the things that he speaks of during his childhood, that clearly caused his stammering, are NOT irrelevant. they illustrate my very point. Like the monarchy or anything about it or not, you can at least take from the film, an example of what any ordinary person may go through who has had similar problems growing up. I personally know someone who has a speech impediment caused by child abuse. It has affected him his entire life. But back to the film, I found Colin Firth to be very effective in his roll as the speech therapist. He was likable and believable and an interesting personality. I found Geoffrey Rush to be a very compelling character. I liked him very much and he was entirely believable in his personality and his interaction with the speech therapist. Not too touchy feely, as hollywood likes to get with these kind of parts. That would have been entirely unbelievable in this setting. Helena Bonham Carter was also good in her roll as the kings wife. It illustrates that not all in the royal circle are stuffy and stiff. The film is a true story, which I especially like to watch, in this day of make believe and so much fluff and no substance or anything of any value to say at all. This story, outlines a very important time in world history, the dawning of WWII. It does this very briefly, but never the less, it adds to the weight of the entire story, of a man thrust into the roll of King, in a country who played a crucial roll in whipping the Nazis ass. No this fact is not part of the film, it is just something you think about after seeing the end of the story. All in all, I found the story, the people and the way it was put together, to be of excellent quality. Bravo!!!!!!!

This is an excellent film that explores the ability to overcome adversity and the power of relationships in providing the support needed to overcome adversity. Colin Firth plays Prince Albert, the Duke of York, who later becomes George VI. Helena Bonham-Carter plays his wife Elizabeth. Early in the film we see that the loving relationship between Elizabeth and her husband, Bertie, as he is called by family members, is in stark contrast to the chilly formal relationship that Bertie has to his father King George V and his mother, Queen Mary. Michael Gambon plays King George V, a not unsympathetic figure, but certainly completely in the dark in understanding the stammer with which Bertie struggles. It is Elizabeth, Duchess of York, who pursues some efforts to help her husband it is she who makes the first contacts with Lionel Logue, an Australian, who came to London after World War I. Gradually a relationship is built between Lionel and Bertie on which the speech therapy can progress. But there is an underlying reason why this story is of such importance. England faced a great challenge with the growth of Nazi Germany and the future was uncertain. In addition, after the death of George V, Bertie's older brother Edward became king. King Edward VIII was not mentally strong or emotionally mature enough to serve as king and he abdicates the throne to marry an American woman who had been twice divorced. Guy Pearce is excellent as Edward VIII, a charming and sophisticated man with limited intelligence and strength of character. Thus Bertie and Elizabeth are thrown into roles they never expected to inherit and Bertie, as George VI, must be the voice of authority and reassurance as England enters a tense and unsure time in relationship to Nazi Germany. This is the historic background on which the film is based, but the film actually spends the majority of time exploring the interactions between Bertie and Lionel as Lionel helps Bertie explore the emotional underpinnings of his stammer and develop the skills to overcome the disability. Elizabeth finds Lionel and begins to believe in his services but the relationship with Bertie has several starts and stops. Lionel comes to understand that Bertie has the moral character and determination to lead England should a war arise with Germany and Bertie comes to judge Lionel by the services he offers and the devotion he has to Bertie rather than by his credentials. The room in which Bertie and Lionel work is certainly worth mentioning since it is a large room with skylights and about 20 layers of wallpaper scraps clinging to the walls forming a fascinating collage that serves as the background of much of the human interaction in the film. Lionel is extremely protective of the process he undertakes with Bertie and even his wife, played by Jennifer Ehle, does not know the true identity of this client. All the actors were superb and Colin Firth is excellent as George VI but Geoffrey Rush was spectacular as Lionel. The film is excellent and its core message of teamwork and trusting relationships in overcoming adversity rings true.

There is something to be found here for everyone in this brilliant and powerful movie. Entertaining on all fronts, both dramatic and laced with great humor and irony, it leaves one with a sense of euphoria and triumph. While comparatively little was known in America about Queen Elizabeth's father before the release of this masterpiece, there has been an on-going interest in her late uncle, the ruling monarch before WWII, who abdicated his throne in favor of the American woman he loved. His radio speech to England at the time when he removed his crown, and handed it over to his reluctant and ill-prepared younger brother, is perhaps one of the most listened to still today, not only by the British, but other nations as well. It is a speech that may be consided as having changed the course of history in such a way as to bring Queen Elizabeth to the fore as one of the most important rulers today in modern history. The pivotal point of the story in this movie lies here with her father, who had a debilitating speech impediment, and was hardly able to make a brief announcement let alone a speech of any kind. With the tenacious help of his wife, the future Queen Mother, they go together in search throughout the kingdom for royal physicians, who may hold the key to a cure. This depressing and increasingly "grim-go-round" brings them as a last resort, into the office of an unconventional speech therapist, who is regarded as an eccentric crackpot, a nonentity and possibly a fraud. Or is he? This is for the viewers to determine. The first thing this man does is to grab "royal protocol" and place it outside his office, solidly parked near the umbrella stand until the office visits are over. The results are not only hilarious, but appear to be beneficial and involve hard work on both the part of the doctor and the patient as they thrive to become a working team and establish a friendly understanding. In the midst of this true historical anecdote, the movie shows a dark and frightening contrast to the struggling king in the form of Hitler, a foe who has no trouble speaking whatsoever, using a documentary newsreel at the time showing him rallying the crowds, sending cold chills down some of the viewers backs. It is now a match between "Good versus Evil", and the rest is history. As for the king's speech, broadcast on the radio and listened to by England and the world-at-large, announcing that Britain is at War with Germany, it is perhaps one of the most intense and powerful ones ever given (On a personal note, this was a great topic for a small international speaking club located at UNICEF House in New York. After giving a short 5-minute address on the background history of the movie, I highly recommended that everybody would benefit in some way from watching it. My fellow members are from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Islands and while we are all fluent in English, it can be difficult for us to stand up in front of an audience and "speak out" although we are a friendly group, always encouraging and supportive). All to say, "The King's Speech" is a wonderful and important reminder to all of us that we have "A Voice".

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The acting is very good, and the story is compelling. I will watch this movie again.

Excellent movie. Blu-ray looks very good.

I waited impatiently for the DVD on "The King's Speech", and was happy when it arrived. As a child I lived in England at the time of the action, and remember listening to the king as he fought his way through his regular, Christmas speech. It was painful, but he did his best, and he certainly did his duty. I lived in London throughout World War Two, and the royal family was always in the thick of things. They even toured the bombed out areas of London to encourage the people, all the while German bombs were dropping on their own home at Buckingham Palace. The Speech starts slowly, but then Colin Firth takes over in a very realistic way to let us see the king's agony when speaking in public. You have to know, or remember, that King George the Sixth had never been groomed to be king. That responsibility fell to his older brother who became King Edward the Eighth. Edward turned out to be an irresponsible neer-do-well, who quickly abdicated. So the speech impediment of the second in line should never have come to the fore. The movie progressed well, but my wife and I were badly turned off by repeated and shouted obscenities on the part of the king while his tutor was helping him to shed his stutter. We are sensitive to gutter talk, and avoid films that are R-rated because of that, especially when we can't walk away from it, so we cringed for a long minute of screamed foul language. We certainly weren't expecting it, and it shows the disgusting mindset of the director of the film, because it was all unnecessary in such a sensitive film. He just wanted to ram his tasteless world down our throats. Such a shame too, because the movie was quite marvelous in depicting the tragic side of a good and famous monarch. Firth was outstanding, as was the tutor Geoffrey Rush, who deserved his star billing. Helena Bonham Carter was competent, but was poorly-chosen for the part of the queen, being much too young. Helen Mirren would have done it beautifully, but had already made her mark as the queens's daughter, in her astonishing portrait of Queen Elizabeth the Second, in the movie "The Queen". The movie was well-worth seeing. I notice that the many enthusiastic reviewers of "The King's Speech" don't mention the shouted and prolonged foul language, so it was not a problem for them. This is another viewpoint.

This is an amazing movie with wonderful performances and a heart-warming story of an unexpected friendship. I finally figured oit how to skip the myriad previews, so this was an enjoyable viewing experience.