Review: “The King’s Speech”
Nigel Cole, the director of the entertaining new British film, “Made in Dagenham,” recently joked that the English make only two kinds of movies: about the aristocrats, or about the working class.
He’s not that far off. His film is about striking factory workers; “The King’s Speech” belongs in the aristocrats category … royals subset.
It’s likely to end up, and deserves to, in yet another crowded subset: films about British monarchs that earn Oscar nominations and/or wins. We may have overthrown the Crown more than two centuries ago, but we still love us some royals on the big screen.
Cinematic portraits of British crowned heads go back to silent days and have proved Oscar bait almost since the Academy began giving out its golden statues. For gnawing on a hunk of meat in the title role in “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” Charles Laughton took home a Best Actor Oscar way back in 1933.
Not much has changed. In the past two decades, there have been a cavalcade of titled titles, and Oscar has come running. Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren earned acting nominations for 1994’s “The Madness of King George,” in which they played, respectively, the loony-tunes monarch and his Queen. Twelve years later, Dame Helen won a Best Actress Oscar for her turn as a stoic but sympathetic Elizabeth II in “The Queen.”
Judy Dench nabbed a Best Actress nomination for her middle-aged Queen Victoria in 1997’s “Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown” and took home the Supporting Actress statue for her formidable Elizabeth I in “Shakespeare in Love” a year later.
Cate Blanchett twice walked the Oscar red carpet as a Best Actress nominee for playing the Virgin Queen, first in 1998’s “Elizabeth” and again in the 2007 sequel, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” And last year, Emily Blunt nabbed a Golden Globe nom, though she missed on one for an Oscar, for “The Young Victoria.”
What makes these performances work is that they successfully walk a tricky line: They humanize their royal hero or heroine even as they ennoble them. It’s a path that the “King’s Speech” elegantly follows.
Indeed, Colin Firth is a sure bet for a Best Actor nomination for his moving portrayal of King George VI, better known as Bertie to his family and friends. (The current Queen Elizabeth is his daughter.) With the help of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an unconventional, Australian-born speech therapist, Bertie struggles to overcome a debilitating speech impediment.
As a second-born son, Bertie didn’t expect to be king. But in 1936, within a year of ascending the throne, King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie’s older brother, abdicates so that he can marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. Thus, Bertie becomes England’s new monarch.
At the time, the clouds of WWII were already gathering over Europe. It becomes imperative that Bertie find his voice so that he can speak out against Nazism and Fascism and rally his people during England’s darkest hour.
Borrowing a page from “The Queen,” director Tom Hooper (“The Damned United”) and screenwriter David Seidler deftly mix the personal with the political. “King’s Speech” rises above stuffy costume drama and the prattlings of blue bloods because there’s something crucial at stake: with WWII on the horizon, England needs a king who can eloquently reach out to rally, inspire and comfort his people.
The movie’s very title, in fact, refers not only to Bertie’s stammer but to the live radio address he made to the nation upon England’s entry into WWII on Sept. 3, 1939.
The performances are all top notch, with Firth leading the pack. His portrayal of Bertie, full of shadings and humor, is an affecting one. By the end, he has made you believe that Bertie, both as a man and His Majesty, rose to the occasion.
There’s also fine work by the redoubtable Rush; his Logue is a puckish outsider who proves as much a friend to Bertie as a speech therapist. Helena Bonham Carter — what is this, like her 65th straight costume role? — lends able support as Bertie’s sympathetic wife. In her witty performance, you can see the makings of the future Queen Mother, the merry old lady beloved by royal watchers up until her death at age 101 eight years ago. And Pearce turns in a particularly effective performance, making Edward into a sad, feckless twit, a man who never really wanted to be king and made sure, once he was, that he wouldn’t be for long.
Here’s the test for a movie about royals: If the lead characters weren’t royal, would the film still be as engrossing and entertaining? With “King’s Speech,” thanks to a compelling story and excellent performances, you can bet your crown that the answer is a resounding yes.
And bonus: Here’s the real King George VI’s WWII entry speech from 1939 — complete with occasional long, painful pauses and swallowed words.
