TRUE STORY WEEK : THE KING'S SPEECH

A TALE OF TRUE COURAGE – THE KING’S SPEECH
The King’s Speech… What a phenomenon that turned out to be, eh? It has pretty much wiped clean all the major award ceremonies of the season! I don’t claim that every film that ever won an award has to be good, but there were a few reasons why I simply HAD to see this film. First and most importantly, George the 6th of England is by far the historical personage I personally admire the most – more on that later. Secondly, Colin Firth. He is brilliant, he is good looking and anyone who has seen the film tells me his acting was AMAZING in this film… Thirdly, well, every single one of the awards can’t have got it wrong, surely? So I went. I was so deeply affected by it that I’m actually finding it tough to write a review on it… It touched me to the core of my soul…
Bertie – the future King George the 6th – is a quiet man. He is happily married and loves his two daughters, he performs his duties as second in line to the throne as best he is able and lives very happy with the fact that his brother David will succeed the throne and not him. His one problem is though, that he has the most terrible stammer. His wife summons an entire army of doctors, simply to no avail until they meet Lionel Logue (the brilliant Geoffrey Rush). Bertie is definitely NOT amused at the first consultation, but Logue persuades him to carry on. Their work however – that is making good progress – takes on a new urgency when history dictates that Bertie will have to take to the dreaded throne after all. Will Bertie and Lionel be able to battle Bertie’s many demons – including his stammer ? If so, how?
This is the true story of a very unusual, yet truly deep friendship. It is also a story of true courage. This is precisely why I admire George the 6th so much. You see, the world is full, full to bursting with bad things… Battles are plentiful and courage is necessary , even more so if you are to be head of state. However the toughest battles anyone faces are without a doubt, those people have with their selves. Our fears are with us constantly, and the ways we choose to cope with them may well lead us off our chosen path, away from our vocation and happiness. Bertie was made fun of all his life because of his stammer – can you imagine what a dent that would make in anyone’s confidence? Yet he then had to stand up and make speech after speech to his public, this was especially more important seeing that the Second World War had just begun and the public looked to him for direction. Bertie hauled himself up by the bootstraps, conquered his own fears, shyness and even his stammer up to a point and was one of the most popular kings of British history… If that doesn’t deserve respect, I don’t know what does…
And the film? Well… Colin Firth is AMAZING. The thing I found remarkable was that how he was able to “be” Bertie without actually physically looking like him that much… From beginning to end, it was just brilliant, one of the best acting performances I have seen. Ever. Helena Bonham-Carter is also sweet as his wife, standing by him, supporting and comforting him through his trials. Her mimics however have taken on something of Johnnie Depp’s I thought at one point… But they do work together rather a lot, I guess that was unavoidable. Then Geoffrey Rush… Well, the man is so damn good; he almost goes without saying, if you see what I mean… You know what this film is like? Ok, you know how watching a good film gives one a sense of “being full” emotionally. This film is like this too. But this is not any old meal… Not even a steak dinner. This is nothing less than a royal banquet from beginning to end. Do NOT miss it…