Review
Review Date: 26-December-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy
The King's Speech (2010)
The King's Speech tells the story of Britain's most recent king, the current queen's father, who fought and won a personal battle as World War II began. The second son of King George V, young Albert, or "Bertie," grew up expecting his older brother to inherit the crown. Even so, the pressures and problems of royal life put a strain on him which manifested itself as a stammer. Always an embarrassment to himself and his family, the stammer became a serious national handicap when his father died and his older brother abdicated the throne to marry a woman ineligible to be queen. This occurred about the same time war was declared, when Britain needed more than a regal figurehead, it needed an inspiration. With the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue, the new king was able to control his stutter and address his subjects in a manner that bred confidence.
This is the type of handsome British production that comes out each Christmas to rack up awards nominations and satisfy the art house crowd. Certainly The King's Speech has class and charm to spare, with impressive period settings and an affecting message about the power of determination and friendship. Whimsy and pathos abound. Helena Bonham Carter adds a feminine touch to the male-bonding story as Bertie's devoted wife. Geoffrey Rush plays Lionel as a cross between Yoda and Jack Black's character from The School of Rock, alternately wise and outlandish. As the beleaguered Bertie, who becomes King George VI, Colin Firth describes both physical and emotional challenges without seeming like too much of a wuss.
The fine line that Firth walks points to the one aspect of the film that made me uneasy. Approached from the point of view of someone living at the time, the feel-good story takes on a shocking hue. There are reasons beyond snobbery why a royal family might want to keep its dirty laundry to itself, especially if that family's sole purpose within a country is symbolic. While knowledge of the prince's stammer could not have been hidden and could, in fact, have made his successful speeches all the more inspirational, it seems vaguely shameful to see him humbling himself to another grown man in order to battle his demons. For Lionel doesn't just give Bertie lessons in elocution, he psychoanalyzes childhood traumas and lifelong insecurities to unearth the king's voice. (He also tramples on class distinctions as a way of breaking barriers to trust.) All mentor-student relationships bear an element of patronization which doesn't suit a monarch if he's the one being patronized. Images of Rasputin come to mind, and one wonders if advantage is being taken when a leader needs to be led.
Yet The King's Speech should probably be received with the hindsight of its theatrical audience, which is more apt to accept a dead king as a human being whom weakness does not necessarily compromise. Hindsight contributes to the best scene in which Bertie watches a newsreel of Adolf Hitler addressing an army and admires the strength of his delivery. This moment provides historical context to the audience and heightened importance to the movie as a whole. George VI may have been a second-string ceremonial figure who needed help to do his job, but given the desperation of his time, however he did it was well done.
Copyright © 2010 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.
