Firth internalizes his tension and keeps the required stiff upper lip, but his staff and household are terrified on his behalf as he marches toward a microphone as if it is a guillotine. Hooper's handling of that fraught scene is masterful. Simpson wreaks havoc, and the dreaded day approaches when Bertie, as George VI, will have to speak to the world and declare war. And in the wider sphere, Hitler takes power, war comes closer, Mrs. As the men have a struggle of wills, she tries to smooth things (and raise her girls Elizabeth and Margaret). Helena Bonham Carter, who can be merciless (as in the "Harry Potter" films), is here filled with mercy, tact and love for her husband this is the woman who became the much-loved Queen Mother of our lifetimes, dying in 2002 at 101. The film largely involves the actors Colin Firth, formal and decent, and Geoffrey Rush, large and expansive, in psychological struggle. I suspect he may be evoking the narrow, constricting walls of Albert's throat as he struggles to get words out. Here we have long corridors, a deep and narrow master control room for the BBC, rooms that seem peculiarly oblong. That's unusual in historical dramas, which emphasize sweep and majesty and so on. The movie is largely shot in interiors, and most of those spaces are long and narrow. God knows what Edward might have fathered.ĭirector Tom Hooper makes an interesting decision with his sets and visuals. This film finds a more interesting story about better people Americans, who aren't always expert on British royalty, may not necessarily realize that Albert and wife Elizabeth were the parents of Queen Elizabeth II. The unsavory thing is that Wallis Simpson considered herself worthy of such a sacrifice from the man she allegedly loved. Indeed, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (as they became) would occupy an inexplicable volume of attention for years, considering they had no significance after the Duke's abdication. "The King's Speech," rich in period detail and meticulous class distinctions, largely sidesteps the story that loomed over this whole period, Edward's startling decision to give up the crown to marry a woman who was already divorced three times. If the British monarchy is good for nothing else, it's superb at producing the subjects of films. But Logue realizes that if he is to become the king's therapist, he must first become his friend. Albert has been raised within the bell jar of the monarchy and objects to such treatment, not because he has an elevated opinion of himself but because, well, it just isn't done. And one of the subjects of the film is Logue's attitude toward royalty, which I suspect is not untypical of Australians he suggests to Albert that they get on a first-name basis. Logue doesn't realize at first who is consulting him. Nothing works, and then she seeks out a failed Australian actor named Lionel Logue ( Geoffrey Rush), who has set up a speech therapy practice. He sees various speech therapists, one of whom tries the old marbles-in-the-mouth routine first recommended by Demosthenes. As it becomes clear that Edward's obsession with Wallis Simpson (Eve Best) is incurable, she realizes her Bertie may face more public humiliation. His father, George V ( Michael Gambon), has always considered "Bertie" superior to Edward ( Guy Pearce), but mourns the introduction of radio and newsreels, which require a monarch to be seen and heard on public occasions.Īt that 1925 speech, we see Bertie's wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), her face filled with sympathy. Before a crowded arena and a radio audience, he seizes up in agony in efforts to make the words come out right. In "The King's Speech," director Tom Hooper opens on Albert ( Colin Firth), attempting to open the British Empire Exhibition in 1925.
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