The King’s Speech by David Seidler - 10 out of 10

The King’s Speech by David Seidler

10 out of 10

Definitely one of the best motion pictures of the last year, indeed winner of four Academy Awards, including for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Achievement in directing, Best Writing, Original Screenplay, The King’s Speech seems so traditional and yet refreshing.

For another version, look at this narrative, there is a note on A King’s Speech by Mark Burgess, available here: https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-kings-speech-by-mark-burgess.html

The narrative of the Man Who Would Be King is fantastic and makes for transcendent viewing, because we have a very complex, sometimes charming, often infuriating, incapacitated by a speech impediment, but brave enough to face it, tortured by a nurse that preferred the brother who would become the pompous, vicious King Edward VIII aka always excellent Guy Pearce and hence pinched and cruelly harmed the younger sibling, psychologically and maybe otherwise tormented by his own father, King George V aka excellent Michael Gambon.

Colin Firth deserved the Oscar for his outstanding performance in a very complicated role, with its human frailty aspects, the bravery required to step up to the challenge and speak in a public, even when one is not equipped for it – as Seinfeld puts it in his comedy series, quoting accurate statistics, at a funeral, one would rather be in the casket than speak to the audience, for people are more afraid of the latter than they are of death – and then the younger brother has to cope with the crisis in the royal family, caused by his reckless sibling.

Some have been, indeed still are, in awe with King George VIII, because seemingly he has chosen ‘love’ over power and all the accoutrements brought by the role of monarch, albeit a constitutional not an absolute one, only if we look at his case, we find a lot that is repelling and it is this side that is brought to the big screen in this marvelous movie, where this figure is presented as vain, pompous, self-centered- it is not so much a sacrifice he makes for love as another proof of his preoccupation with himself and all that pleasures him, an unwillingness to accept any restraint on his hedonistic inclinations (alas, the original followers of the doctrine were not wrong, and the modern acceptance of the word is negative, albeit hedonistic was quite fantastic originally).

Once he abdicates, the ex-king would still pester the royal family with demands, and his initial (perhaps eternal) embrace of the fuhrer and its abominable doctrine and ghastly politics would be followed by other disgraceful attitudes and even acts, some of them described in the series The Queen and others presented in the glorious Any human Heart by the genius William Boyd.

Because Prince albert has a speech impediment, his wife, the future Queen mother, Elizabeth, talks to the amateur actor and speech therapist Lionel Logue aka phenomenal Geoffrey Rush and the latter would become essential in the evolution of the prince, a transformation rather, from a man unable to enunciate – due in large part to the overbearing, overwhelming presence of a father, who, authoritarian and bullying, would always press the child and infuriated would order: ‘go on! Go on with it!’- to a decent, if not world class, communicator.

There are tense and amusing moments, from the moment when the two meet and the therapist awaits for the royal prince to talk, mentioning that this is what one probably does in the presence of a ‘highness’, only to have the price state that this may take weeks – he is aware, frustrated with his impediment, but he has a sense of humor – and then we see the two of them jump up and down and force the limits of the body, in order to work the muscles and be able to speak.

Prince Albert had been to other so called specialists, one of them presenting his royal highness with quite a few…stones, which he wanted the poor talker to insert in his mouth and then use what is the famous Demosthenes method, to which Princess Elizabeth protests that a long time has passed since and, anyway, Albert is nearly chocked by the many – perhaps there were ten or more in all – pebbles which he had to insert in his mouth.

The future King George VI is very loyal and proud and has a heated exchange with Lionel Logue – well, they have quite a few, but this seems to be one of the important, intense ones – when the Australian speculates one what would happen with the monarchy, given that Prince Edward would not give up his relationship with Mrs. Wallis Simpson, a woman who seemed to have two husbands, at the same time, ignoring the advice of those who said that he could keep the affair, hide it and not flaunt it and still be the monarch of Great Britain and, at that time, of the British Empire, which extended more or less over nearly a quarter of the world.

When King George V dies, his successor is so revolting as to…complain that his parent has died to complicate things for his son, who has a party where Mrs. Wallis Simpson is at the center stage, embarrassing those who know the etiquette, what must be done and what is forbidden – albeit, if we consider that today, the Prince of Wales has married with a divorcee and he is in line to ascend on the throne and rules have changed so much, we could wonder about all the fuss – and eventually, King George VIII abdicates to do what he likes, without the constraints of the rules guiding the monarchy.