Severely affected by a hard stammer, King George VI bonds with a speech therapist who convinces him of much more than his ability to speak in public.
All of the talk surrounding The King’s Speech has been of its acting performances, particularly that of Colin Firth, and very good they are, too. It is Geoffrey Rush, though, as therapist Lionel Logue, who captivated me the most, drawing my attention with his calm, bold demeanour and delicate humour in every scene he was in and leaving me anticipating his return in scenes that he was not.
There is much more to the film than fine acting, however. I have little sympathy for the “suffering” and “sacrifice” of such massively privileged people and the sheer one-sided reverence the filmmakers show to their subjects ignoring a multitude of sins is frustrating and deceiving but predictable. The story is perfectly well told and the film looks fantastic, an unexpected quality. Interior and exterior locations are designed and exploited beautifully and the cinematography consistently produces interesting, rich images.
Sure to delight admirers of historical dramas and a pleasant surprise for those who, like me, tend to avoid them.
6th Jan 2011 | Official site | On IMDb
