The King's Speech (2010)
Country: GB/AUS/US
Technical: col 118m
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Anthony Andrews, Jennifer Ehle, Claire Bloom
Synopsis:
As war and the constitutional crisis surrounding the Prince of Wales's affair with Wallace SImpson loom larger on the horizon, the Duke of York's speech impediment becomes an increasing cause for concern. Elizabeth, his wife, finally clutches at the straw of a Harley Street eccentric without qualifications who insists on equality with his patients.
Review:
Like other successful royal films of the past decade or so (Mrs Brown, The Queen), this one succeeds both in turning its conflicted personages into rounded human beings (complete with a 'fucking' and 'buggering' George VI), and in reinforcing one's sense of national awe and majesty. Other characters freighted with portent such as Churchill and Baldwin are there to lend weight, but it is with the family units of the Prince and his antipodean speech therapist that the drama chiefly concerns itself. The final sequence surrounding the delivery of the knig's first national address at the outbreak of war is a winner, carrying with it both a personal note of triumph and a national sense of moment. The use of well-worn snippets of Mozart and Beethoven in place of specially composed music is a curiosity, given that the only diegetic musical references are Swanee River and The Camptown Races.
Country: GB/AUS/US
Technical: col 118m
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Anthony Andrews, Jennifer Ehle, Claire Bloom
Synopsis:
As war and the constitutional crisis surrounding the Prince of Wales's affair with Wallace SImpson loom larger on the horizon, the Duke of York's speech impediment becomes an increasing cause for concern. Elizabeth, his wife, finally clutches at the straw of a Harley Street eccentric without qualifications who insists on equality with his patients.
Review:
Like other successful royal films of the past decade or so (Mrs Brown, The Queen), this one succeeds both in turning its conflicted personages into rounded human beings (complete with a 'fucking' and 'buggering' George VI), and in reinforcing one's sense of national awe and majesty. Other characters freighted with portent such as Churchill and Baldwin are there to lend weight, but it is with the family units of the Prince and his antipodean speech therapist that the drama chiefly concerns itself. The final sequence surrounding the delivery of the knig's first national address at the outbreak of war is a winner, carrying with it both a personal note of triumph and a national sense of moment. The use of well-worn snippets of Mozart and Beethoven in place of specially composed music is a curiosity, given that the only diegetic musical references are Swanee River and The Camptown Races.
Country: GB/AUS/US
Technical: col 118m
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Anthony Andrews, Jennifer Ehle, Claire Bloom
Synopsis:
As war and the constitutional crisis surrounding the Prince of Wales's affair with Wallace SImpson loom larger on the horizon, the Duke of York's speech impediment becomes an increasing cause for concern. Elizabeth, his wife, finally clutches at the straw of a Harley Street eccentric without qualifications who insists on equality with his patients.
Review:
Like other successful royal films of the past decade or so (Mrs Brown, The Queen), this one succeeds both in turning its conflicted personages into rounded human beings (complete with a 'fucking' and 'buggering' George VI), and in reinforcing one's sense of national awe and majesty. Other characters freighted with portent such as Churchill and Baldwin are there to lend weight, but it is with the family units of the Prince and his antipodean speech therapist that the drama chiefly concerns itself. The final sequence surrounding the delivery of the knig's first national address at the outbreak of war is a winner, carrying with it both a personal note of triumph and a national sense of moment. The use of well-worn snippets of Mozart and Beethoven in place of specially composed music is a curiosity, given that the only diegetic musical references are Swanee River and The Camptown Races.