First, I would like to apologize for being 2-3 days late in my posting. I promised I would be talking about The King's Speech. After I watched it, I was literally speechless - no pun intended. Because it has been a few days since I saw it, I have been able to collect my thoughts. It has definitely made my favorite movie list (hmmm new list!!). For those of you who don't know, it's a British film starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush at their best. What seemed like a simple and well, boring plot, was actually what made the movie so intelligent.
It takes place in England before and during the beginning of WWII. The Duke of York (Colin Firth) had a very horrible stammer that prevented him from delivering speeches to his public. His wife finds an Australian speech-therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who agrees to secretly cure the Duke. The Duke's training session begins with much doubt, and he actually left his first session. Lionel Logue (the speech-therapist) tricks the Duke into coming back once the Duke has listened to a record of himself saying the "to be or not to be" soliloquy with perfect fluidity (Lionel tricked him by making him listen to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro while unknowingly saying the soliloquy perfectly without any stammers).
Their therapy sessions were unique in the way of their process; Lionel had the Duke exercising, singing, dancing, screaming, and even swearing. Sounds weird, but it worked. By making him do these embarrassing or hard exercises, Lionel prepared the Duke for any situation such as the feeling of tightness on the chest (he had his wife sit on top of the Duke).
What made this movie even more interesting was the fact that it is historical. Of course there is added drama for the effect (such as the swearing, in-formalities, and Winston Churchill's portrayal). After King George V's death, his first son took the throne, but soon abdicated and eloped. This left the Duke of York to the throne. The climax of the film was when King George VI had forty minutes to prepare his first formal speech as King to his country when the war first began.
As I said before, I left his movie absolutely speechless. Now it is all I can talk about. Every moment, every character, in this film was necessary - there were no awkward pauses or moments. I would give this film five out of five stars. It was dramatic, historical, comedic, and realistic. It portrays man's smallest fears which end up being his biggest fears. More than that, it proves that even an ordinary man (Lionel) can make the biggest difference in someone's life (or country). I recommend this film for people of all ages (there are two scenes where they repeatedly swear, but it is for therapy, not insults). It will make you cry, but in the end, they will be tears of joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment