Director Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech(2010), nominated for twelve Oscars and winning three including Best Achievement in Directing, Best Motion Picture, Best Performance by an Actor, and Best Screenplay, relays the history of King George VI as he came into the throne and the difficulties he faced with not only taking power, but also with a speech impediment which he has had since he was a child.
The title of this film has a double meaning. Speech references both the oration that Bertie/King George VI(Colin Firth) must give to his county, as well as the literal way of speaking, his elocution and speech impediment which he struggles with. In order for Bertie to deliver speeches without the embarrassment of stuttering, he finds himself in the care of Lionel Logue(Geoffrey Rush). With the help of Lionel and the support from his family, Bertie is able to give a speech over the radio which is broadcast throughout the country addressing the declaration of war of Germany during WWII.
This first photo pictures, from left to right, Queen Elizabeth(Helena Bonham Carter), King George/Bertie, and Lionel in one of the many speech lessons which occur throughout the film. At the beginning, Bertie puts up a wall against Lionel, not allowing him into his personal life, but eventually, Lionel breaks through and they find the root of Bertie’s stutter. With the judgement and ridicule from his family, as well as the mistreatment from his first maid, Bertie was traumatized and his stutter followed him around wherever he went after the age of five.
The Third act consists of Bertie’s triumph, as he nervously gives his speech, dictating the actions which the country will take during the war. In the second photo, he is shown as the man who he wanted to be, a man whose family could be proud of him.
The film comes to a conclusion and Bertie becomes both King George, yet still stays the family man with whom his family can love an trust. It reaches a full circle as the film both begins and ends with Bertie giving a speech, yet the difference between the two is immense. Colin Firth’s character uses his speaking to regain speech and realize that he has a voice that is worth hearing. Speech in the title comes from two different meanings, but in The King’s Speech they blend seamlessly together and create a film about a man who struggles to be someone, and eventually realizes he is, succeeding.
You used the same images (at least I think you did--the blog software won't let me see the pictures) and scenes and interpretations of "speech" that I did, but I like how you incorporated the struggle and duality involved within Bertie as he must try to become king and stay a family man at the same time. It's a very subtle struggle that happens throughout the film, and it's something that he does very well with. In a lot of ways, his impediment overshadows a lot of what's going on. The situation in Germany remains in the background for him, his family, and the viewers (and we know what a huge deal the war is going to be) for the movie, showing how they really didn't know how much of a toll the war was going to take on the world (and how could they have)?
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, there are a lot of kingly things (I feel like I'm allowed to put that phrase in my comment because of what Bertie's brother said) that Bertie does well that get overshadowed by his speech impediment. People--including him--really have problems seeing past it, and I'm glad that you brought all of those things into your blog for this week.
Libby I really liked how you brought up the point that the movie both starts with him giving a speech and ends with him giving a speech. This really allows the viewer to see the parallels from where he started to where he ended. It wasn't only his ability to speak that changed from the start of the movie, it was also his confidence which is extremely evident as Bertie walks out of the recording room into the hall. When everyone is applauding, the camera does a close up of his face and it is evident that now he is finally confident of himself, despite the fact that war is upon the nation and that he had previously said he was relieved when his brother took over being king.
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