The King's Speech

I don't do very many actual film reviews, mostly because I don't think I have anything especially profound to add to a given discussion. However, once in awhile a film has enough of an impact that it can't help but overflow into your conversations and in this case, writing.

Minutiae out of the way first. I was amused to see no less than three actors from the critically respected 1995 BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, and David Bamber, although there is only one scene where two of those actors cross paths.

Guy Pierce is truly a pro in any role, but as he is 7 years younger than Colin Firth, why cast him as his older brother King Edward VIII?

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Rocky. Karate Kid. Even The Matrix. Pick your own and compare away. It's the familiar story of a brave underdog under the tutelage of an older mentor overcoming a great challenge. The big difference is that The King's Speech is a true story. While there seems to be a minor obsession with royalty over the past few years in the film industry, the efforts have yielded terrific films (see The Young Victoria or The Queen). The King's Speech, however, was a long time in the making. Screenwriter David Seidler obtained permission to tell this personal story of King George VII from his wife Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, during the 1970's. Her only stipulation was that the movie couldn't be made in her lifetime. I guess no one expected her to live to be 101.

At its core, The King's Speech is the story of a friendship between a royal and a commoner. At the parallel is the story of Prince Albert's ascension to the throne as King George VI. The two intersect in the problem of a prince, and later, king who stutters and stammers while the empire is on the verge of war, all during the rise of radio (or "wireless"). Firth is incredibly sympathetic as the reluctant royal who is fearful of becoming king, while Helena Bonham Carter shows a rarely seen softer side as his incredibly supportive wife. Geoffrey Rush plays the unorthodox Australian speech therapist and WWI vet who genuinely wants to help his patient, insisting on informality in his office.

It's a shame that the audience for The King's Speech will be limited by the R rating due to a short but concentrated bit of swearing in the context of speech therapy. I know there was some controversy in Britain when it was given a "15" rating, which was revised to "12A", which is similar to taking it from an R to a PG-13.

The King's Speech is alternately funny, compassionate, uncomfortable, and dramatic, but never dull, despite ostensibly being a movie about speech therapy. The direction and cinematography are excellent, with unexpected and surprising camera angles and framing throughout. Alexander Desplat provides a string, wind, and piano score that's never overly emotional, allowing the actors to provide that element. The film's climactic moments, though, are underscored by the dramatic and stirring Allegretto from Beethoven's 7th Symphony (the same one I had the pleasure of hearing performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra last month), followed by Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto. This is the rare engrossing cinematic experience where your hands begin to involuntarily move towards applause before your brain stops them in the realization that it's a film.