The King's Speech

I was interested to watch this movie because of ....

... Colin Firth, I like his performance in Dorian Gray, which was my first encounter with him.

... the genre; historical, however I was aware of the balance/imbalance between accurateness, imagination and dramatic effects included in the movie.

... the subject matter, the ancestors of my motherland's former colonial government. What more can I say..

The Gist

 The period was during the late 1920s to 1930s in United Kingdom. Prince Albert, the Duke of York, the second son of the reigning King George V, had stuttering problems since he was a child. He, with the assistance from his wife Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, had tried several treatments to cure it but the efforts were not so successful, until the Duchess met Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist living in England. Although the Duke was reluctant at first, losing confidence and feared for another failure, Logue's unorthodox ways of treatment and his understanding of the Duke's plight made the two started working together to improve the Duke's speech. During those times, the Duke had to handle some difficult times as when his father died and later the abdication of his older brother from the throne when he wanted to marry a divorcée. And also a test of trust as he found out that Logue actually never had credentials as a speech therapist. Yet, Logue was able to convince him that he never took any title of credential and he learned all his expertise from experience and managed success from it. As the next successor to the throne, the reluctant Duke, afterwards King George VI, had to battle his own self-esteem on becoming a King as part of his duty was to make broadcast speeches, especially during the World War II. I'd say, Logue had put some sense in the King's mind that the King finally found his own confidence, and his own voice. In the end credits, it was stated that Logue continued to be the King's speech therapist, assisting him in many speeches he did and continued being best friends till the end.

The verdict

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Whenever I walked out of a cinema with a broad smile, a feeling of pleasant disbelief and high spirit, I knew I've got the best deal for every shillings spent. I believed in the characters of the King, Queen and Logue. I loved to see the relationships portrayed between each of them and the lines. I probably had a slight problem catching up with the true British English accent. But it was ok. Perhaps the only character I couldn't feel or believe in was the guy who played Winston Churchill....but never mind. And I had a fair share of laughter in several scenes. A good treat.