Movie Review - The King's Speech

How does it feel to be a King? Or, to be more specific, how does it feel to grow up as a prince? With people continuously scrutinising and judging, one cannot afford to put even a foot wrong. One always has to be on one’s best behaviour. Also, the people, under the garb of respect, tend to keep their distance. How difficult is it then, to even make a friend? And how liberating it is, when after almost a lifetime of being a prince, one finally finds somebody to confide in? To speak freely to? This is just one of the themes portrayed in this delightfully personal film by Tom Hooper.

Yes, it is a film which portrays a stammering king. But, it also portrays a king who finds a friend – a relationship he hasn’t quite shared with anyone else. It is as much about his desire to overcome his problem as it is about his need for sharing it with somebody who understands it. And in his speech therapist he finds a man willing to lend his ear. And the two of them – the king and his friend – then go through the emotional ride that all friendships go through. Their bond grows as the film goes on and by the end we find ourselves putting our faith in the speech therapist and rooting for the king to complete his speech – without stammering, of course.

The film follows the struggles of Prince Albert (Duke of York) with his stammering. We learn of them very early indeed as the film opens with his address to a large gathering at the Wembley Stadium, which he literally stammers through. Being a public figure, he realizes he will be called upon to make many such appearances and speak in front of an audience. So, he consults many distinguished physicians for correcting this fault in his speech but they all fail to bring about any improvement. It is then that his wife – Elizabeth – persuades him to see a speech therapist – Lionel Logue. Logue’s methods are unconventional and he prefers to treat his patients on an equal footing. He insists to remain on first name terms and asks too many personal questions – which doesn’t go down well with the prince. But Logue’s treatment is effective and prince decides to continue consulting him provided he doesn’t cross certain boundaries. But as the story, and the time, moves on he finds himself violating them and sharing his innermost thoughts and feelings with Logue. How through their friendship and trust in each other does the prince overcome his problem, is the rest of the film.

This is a film with a simple premise and an uncomplicated plot and so it depends a lot on the performances to make the grade. Do the actors deliver then? Yes they do and how! And Colin Firth is not the only standout performer here, because Geoffrey Rush is equally impressive. As Lionel Logue, the wit and the charm he brings to this character of a failed actor turned speech therapist keeps the film from becoming an overly serious drama. He gets most of the one liners and pulls them off with élan. His wit doesn’t come across as dry or sarcastic, it’s simply humorous. He infuses the character with a confidence that we see in men who have dealt with a lot of people and know what all the fuss is about. His Logue is a people’s man. His chemistry with Colin Firth is a treat to watch. Firth’s portrayal of the stammering prince hogs all the limelight, though. As the opening sequence rolled on, I felt apprehensive – I was wondering whether Colin Firth will overdo the stammering bit and ham up the character. But he doesn’t, of course, and indeed he balances the act beautifully – not underdoing it so as to keep focus on it and not overdoing it so as to not ham it up. But what really did the trick for me was the quiet dignity that he brings to the character. He allows us to feel concerned about him but he never allows us to feel pity. He allows us to feel sympathetic but never allows us to feel sorry. Even in moments where he portrays his vulnerability, he doesn’t let us forget he is a king. And all this without any explicit signs, all through the subtle demeanour. And just notice how his body language changes after the final speech, I challenge you to not smile at the transformation. Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth is good. She just overcooks the English accent a bit, otherwise she does fine – especially when she tells Albert how beautifully he stammers.

Credit must be given to Tom Hooper for extracting brilliant performances from the whole cast. Also, what I admire very much is the way he puts equal emphasis on the stammering part and the relationship between the two friends. Just like Colin Firth, he balances the act nicely and doesn’t overdo either. David Seidler, who has written the film, himself struggled with stammering as a child and the film seems to have benefitted from his experience. It tries to tackle the psychological root cause of Prince Albert’s stammer and doesn’t treat the issue too gravely. Not to say it doesn’t do so seriously, but it has a humorous undertone to the way it does so. The only complaint I have from this film is at times it becomes clichéd and inherently, it is predictable. Otherwise, it holds up the viewer interest very nicely, indeed.

At the very beginning I have mentioned that this film is very delightfully personal. I say so, keeping in mind the backdrop against which the story takes place. It is a time of turmoil in England. After the death of King George V, Albert’s elder brother David takes over the throne but later chooses to abdicate so that he can marry a divorced woman. As Albert’s personal life is in a mild crisis due to his stammering, he has to take over the throne from his brother. And the ever threatening war is looming over the horizon. At a time when his radio broadcasts have great importance for the morale of the nation, it is vital he gets his speech right. The achievement of the film is that it makes us forget everything else and our sole concern remains over the King’s Speech. We don’t care about the war or the throne – we care about the stammering of a king. There is a video footage in the film which shows Hitler delivering a speech at a rally. And the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘He is a bloody good orator.’ That’s how much I was engrossed with the personal world of the king, his queen and his speech therapist (after watching the footage Albert’s daughter asks him what Hitler was saying. He answers, “I don't know but... he seems to be saying it rather well.” And that made me snort loudly). That’s why it’s a personal film. I don’t know if it’s deliberate or unwittingly so, but the film doesn’t concern itself with goings on of the world, it just concerns itself with its king and his speech. And that allowed me to connect to it at a much deeper and personal level.

Of course, it’s a beautiful film. It’s a film where you are waiting for the moment of triumph and its realization has just so feel good touch to it – a film worth watching.

PS: I had to put it in for a personal disappointment. Although, the screenplay by David Seidler is great, there is no way it should have won over Inception. This is great but that was awesome.