"The King's Speech" (2010) - Film about George VI of the United Kingdom


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"The King's Speech" wins top prize at Toronto film festival

Sydney Morning Herald, 20 Septermber 2010

"The King's Speech" won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, giving the Tom Hooper-directed film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season. The film, which stars Colin Firth as Britain's reluctant King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist, captured the festival's People's Choice award.

In addition to making a splash with Toronto audiences, "The King's Speech" has been roundly praised by critics.

Firth's King George, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, is initially reluctant to ascend to the crown following the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. Plagued by a nervous stammer, he enlists the help of a speech therapist and is eventually able to lead the country into World War II.

"I am so proud that people responded to the film in such a positive way," director Tom Hooper said.
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I do hope it wins some Oscars, it would be wonderful to see Colin Firth get one.
 
My Niece works for CTV Entertainment and, w/her knowing my love of all things Royal, made certain she paid attention to what was going on w/this movie at TIFF. She only heard wonderful things and those among the rest of her co workers who were lucky to see it, were all saying the same things. That this movie will be one of the front runners come Oscar time.

I really can't wait to see this!!!
 
Good to see a factual film about the royals in production, after hearing about Madonna's debacle with W.E about Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, which sounds to be a whitewash of their Nazi sympathies ... I can't wait to see Helena BC as the Queen Mother, she has a round face and similar stature to the Queen Mum, and Colin Firth is a very diffident fellow outside his persona. I think it will be wonderful.
 
Wow...when I first heard about this movie, I am not going to lie...I was like HUH? A movie about George's Speech therapist? How exciting can a movie like that be? I will wait for cable.

With all the Oscar hype surrounding it (and Colin Firth!) I might have to pay a few dollars at the movie theater to see it.
 
That is fabulous!

I love it when Helena Bonham Carter says "I intend to be a great Queen to Great King!" I am definitely going to see. Looks like its not going to wide release (like the Young Victoria) but that is fine with me.
 
If it's not wide-release, that translates into "I'll have to wait for the DVD.":sad:

Zonk said:
That is fabulous!

I love it when Helena Bonham Carter says "I intend to be a great Queen to Great King!" I am definitely going to see. Looks like its not going to wide release (like the Young Victoria) but that is fine with me.
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Mermaid1962 said:
If it's not wide-release, that translates into "I'll have to wait for the DVD.":sad:
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I definitely won't catch it in my neighborhood movie theater. It will be in one of those independent theaters...will have to make a trip to DC to see it!
 
It looks like it will be a wonderful movie. George VI is a hero to me, because he managed to lead his nation in spite of his personal weaknesses. Perhaps it will be showing in a theatre within driving distance. I hope so.


Zonk said:
I definitely won't catch it in my neighborhood movie theater. It will be in one of those independent theaters...will have to make a trip to DC to see it!
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I really want to see this movie, but the closest it'd probably be is Chicago which is a four hour drive. The trailer looks awesome.

For the curious, I found the King's actual speech on the outbreak of World War II. The stutter has been cleared up, but his voice is still very hesitant (and the recording is quite staticky).

YouTube - The King to His People from Buckingham Palace September 3rd 1939
 
Dralcoffin said:
I
For the curious, I found the King's actual speech on the outbreak of World War II. The stutter has been cleared up, but his voice is still very hesitant (and the recording is quite staticky).
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Thanks. Until I heard this I had no idea his rhotacism was that obvious (troops=twoops etc). Upper-class people of his time stereotypically spoke like that but his is quite severe.

Assuming this was broadcast and recorded live it's an amazing effort, but with a few hesitations that must have been mortifying. I can see this being the dramatic climax of the film.

Public speaking must have been such an ordeal, let alone something like this.

There's an interesting early review of the movie here.

Using heavy filters, Hooper moodily evokes a pre-second world war England of shabby, dimly lit rooms and characters wrapped in overcoats to fend off the indoor chill.
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The King's Speech hinges on the relationship between Firth's Albert (aka Bertie) and Geoffrey Rush's speech therapist Lionel Logue, a failed Australian actor given to performing hammy Shakespeare for his children. The prince and the commoner's initially fractious connection plays out like a sophisticated bromance, with Firth and Rush batting amusing banter back and forth with crisp relish. Helena Bonham Carter impresses too as Albert's doting, concerned wife, equally quick witted but a steelier proposition than her self-loathing husband.
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Geoffrey Rush as a failed Shakespearean actor? Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen Mum? I for one think this sounds awesome. It's been far too long since Geoffrey Rush made a movie.

Sounds like definite Oscar material, too. Biopic, stirring tale of triumph over adversity, period film, not a "blockbuster" -- ticks all the boxes.
 
I read something somewhere about a book by the same title being released at the same time as the film. Sounds interesting.

[Edited to add]: There's some info here.
 
The trailer looks so good - I can't wait! The History honor society at my university is all going to see it together when it comes out. :)
 
Sydney Morning Herald 10 November 2010

Lionel Logue | The King's Speech | Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush

King's voice coach calmed a nation

excerpts

Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue honed his skills with shell-shocked soldiers.
Then came his biggest challenge - a stammering future monarch, writes Steve Meacham.

Fleet Street labelled him ''The Quack Who Saved The King''. Some reporters went still further, questioning whether the British monarchy would have survived the Abdication crisis in 1936 without the intervention of an obscure self-taught speech therapist from Australia. They even speculated whether the famed spirit of the Blitz would have been quite so resolute had ''Bertie'' - King George VI - not made his calming radio broadcasts to a nation at war. Yet since Lionel George Logue died in April 1953, his name has faded into obscurity, hardly warranting a historical footnote.

All that is about to change with the release of The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth as the future king and Geoffrey Rush as Logue. The movie tells the true story of how Logue cured the young Duke of the stuttering that had bedevilled him since childhood, making him painfully self-conscious, diffident and incapable of performing public duties without ridicule.

The most intriguing thing is that no one really knows what his methods were. There have been many conflicting reports and theories but the secret of his techniques appears to have died with him. Logue's grandson, Mark, a British filmmaker, agrees. His coming book - The King's Speech: How one man saved the British monarchy - is based on Logue's unpublished diaries. Mark Logue told the Herald this week that nothing in the diaries sheds new light on his grandfather's methods. ''Whatever it was that he did with the king, or indeed with his other patients, he didn't pass it on, because he had no students and didn't leave any records,'' he said.

On May 12, 1937 Logue sat in the apse of Westminster Abbey to encourage the king during the coronation service. As Edgar describes it, ''before the king's radio broadcast that evening, Logue whispered to him: 'Now take it quietly, sir.'''

By now the two men had forged a strong friendship, which Logue regarded as one of the ''greatest pleasures'' of his life. During the war, Logue continued coaching the king. The two men were together when King George VI delivered his most eagerly awaited radio speech on May 8, 1945: Victory in Europe Day.
 
Can't wait to see it! Wonder if anyone in the BRF will attend the premier? I'm hoping for Prince Philip and The Queen! :flowers:
 
I think the last premiere the Queen and the DofE attended was Casino Royale and that was only because it marked the 60th Royal Film Performance and benefited the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), who QE2 is patron of.

Charles and Camilla attended the The Other Boleyn Girl premiere.
William and Harry secretly attended the premiere of Sherlock Holmes, but they publically attended the premiere of Quantum of Solace.
 
I had no idea it was a limited release film. I guess I have to wait for it to come out on DVD, unless it gets nominated for an Oscar and shoved into movie theaters nation-wide.
Interestingly, this week's People magazine has a review of this movie with a sidebar called '4 things to know about Will & Harry's Great-Grandpa'. Number 3 states "A Corgi Man: He began the royals' love affair with the breed in the 1930s when he bought one for daughters Elizabeth and Charlotte". Who is Charlotte?! It's supposed to be a respectable magazine - how could they make such a simple screw-up?!
 
The movie is getting so much 5 star ratings. No doubt in the world that Colin will be nominated and I think he's going to win. It's about damn time too. I want to see it so bad but I'm afraid it will get very little showtime here.
 
I saw The King's Speech at a special advanced screening tonight, and it was brilliant. All the nominations mentioned above, are well deserved and I hope TKS sweeps the Globes (the Oscars would be awesome too).

I felt so bad for Bertie when he was trying to speak at the Empire Exhibition closing in 1925 (the opening of the film) - and willing him on during his first war-time speech (the closure of the film). The film did a great job of showing how hard his stammer made life for Bertie, and his brother David teasing him about half-way through ("Buh Buh Buh Bertie") made me wish Bertie would stand up to David. Loved Queen Elizabeth's line to Wallis in the scene prior - "I came at the invitation of the King" :D

The relationship between Bertie and Logue is also heartwarming - there is several lines about them being friends, one in particular I liked very much, at the coronation rehearsal when Bertie wants Logue to sit in the family box. The Archbishop of Canterbury says but that's where the King's family will sit - and Bertie's reply is basically saying that therefore the family box is the correct place for Logue.

I would highly recommend that anyone slightly interested in this film to go see it, it is definately worth it.
 
I am very envious JessRulz!! - I am so looking forward to seeing this when it opens on Boxing Day. It is getting great reviews and you have made me look forward to it even more.
 
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