The title The King's Speech has a dual meaning: the physical speech that the title refers to is the speech Bertie must give when he announces that Britain has gone to war with Germany, while the other "speech" that the title refers to is, of course, a style of talking. The first speech is exemplified by the last scene in the movie, in which Bertie gives his speech excellently with the help he's gotten throughout the movie. This speech also signifies the end result of Bertie's friendship and aid from Lionel, who sits and listens to the speech at the end. Lionel not only helps Bertie's physical speech but also gets him talking about the reasons behind it, the psychological trauma suffered at the hands of his father, his brother, and his friends.
The second type of speech, speech having to do with simple conversation, is best exemplified by the working relationship between Bertie and Lionel (and Queen Elizabeth, Bertie's wife, who occasionally joins in on the sessions and is very devoted to her husband and a strong but quirky personality throughout the movie). In a quite adorable montage, the three practice the speech exercises together. While Bertie is still working on trusting Lionel and Lionel's methods, he performs the tasks anyway because he believes what Lionel and the loved ones around him believe: that his speech impediment can be fixed.Of course, the recording of Bertie reading Hamlet perfectly while he couldn't hear himself is very helpful.
I agree with our assessment with your blog. However, I would like to point out the crucial moments in the movie. In my opinion, I think it is important to stress about the spatial differences between Bertie and the microphone. When Bertie meets Lionel and is forced to speak into the microphone, he does not want to face his fears. As the movie progresses, Bertie opens up to Lionel about the problems he had to overcome while growing up. This scene is also important because it shows how "the common man" has formed a friendship with an unlikely person-The Duke of York. Gradually, Bertie faces his fears and overcomes the "power" of the microphone. By the end of the movie-with the encouragement of his wife and friend Lionel-Bertie, or King George VI, is able to deliver one of the greatest speeches of all time. without having his speech impediment enslave him.
ReplyDeleteKylee,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very nice blog post this week and you answered the question spot-on. The two meanings of the word 'speech' in the title are well addressed and I agree with the meanings. The only thing I would have to disagree with that is when you said Albert actually believed his impediment could be cured. Hearing himself on the recording boosts his confidence in himself significantly, but I believe his wife, who was played wonderfully by Helena Bonham-Carter (this is actually one of the only movies I've liked her in) was the only one who believed one hundred percent of the time that the King could be cured. He seemed to act in large part simply out of great desperation. It was quite nice and extremely inspiring however to see how in faith in himself and his abilities grew with the help of Dr. Logue and the unending support of his wife.