The King’s Speech came into theatres on the 7th of January 2011. It was described on IMBd as the story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. This film is a historical drama which was directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays King George VI who goes to see a speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush to help with a stammer so George VI can make his first wartime radio broadcast on Britain’s declaration of war on Germany in 1939. During the end of the film the declaration of war with Nazi Germany was begun and the King summons Logue to Buckingham Palace to help deliver the speech. They then enter into a room with just a table and microphone and no one else where the King soothes the frightened nation with the silent help of Logue.
The writer of the film David Seidler wrote The King’s Speech after overcoming his own childhood stutter, “It’s not a pleasant experience. Nobody in their right mind would choose to be a stutterer.” As a child his parents would play his audio tapes of King George VI stating that if this royal figure could overcome a stutter and lead a nation during wartime so could David. The early 1980’s was when Seidler started to write about the relationship between the king and his therapist, but he had to postpone his writing at the request of the Queen Mother until 2002. The director Hooper used three different techniques during the shooting of the film to make it stand out from other historical dramas: hard light, wide lenses, and off centre framing of characters. This off centre framing can be seen when George VI is hunched over the side of a couch at the edge of this frame during his first consultation with his therapist. Hooper and the cinematographer Danny Cohen used 14mm, 18mm, 21mm, 25mm, 27mm lenses to help convey the discomfort in the King’s face. Hooper captured the actors body language by using wide shots, he also used close up shots to catch the emotion on the actors faces. Unlike other historical dramas who use soft lighting, Hooper wants a darker light to give the film more a contemporary feel.
To prepare Firth for the dialogue of the film he worked with Neil Swain and his sister Kate Firth who are both voice coaches. In an interview with the British Stammering Association, Swain said: “It was very interesting while we were working on the film just to think tonally how far we could go and should go with the strength of George’s stammer. I think a less courageous director than Tom [Hooper] – and indeed a less courageous actor than Colin [Firth] – might have felt the need to slightly sanitise the degree and authenticity of that stammer, and I’m really really pleased that neither of them did.”
The budget for the film was £8 million and grossed over £250 million in the box office. The film won several awards from the British Academy of Film such as: Best Picture, Best Actor (Firth), Best Supporting Actor (Rush), and Best Supporting Actress (Bonham Carter). It also won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Firth), Best Director ( Hoopers), and Best Screenplay (Seidler). Without a doubt this movie alongside other historical dramas stands out tremendously. With an award winning cast and director this became the film of the year winning a variety of awards and the hearts of the British nation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/
http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2011/01/interview-david-siedler/
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137037
Cinema and Society 2012 