The King's Speech
Published 2011-07-17
Film info
- Title The King's Speech
- Director Tom Hooper
- Year 2010
- Run time 1hr 58m
- Genres History, Drama
- Tagline Find your voice
- Cast Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon
As the second son of George V, Prince Albert 'Bertie' was not expected to ascend to the throne, but when his brother Edward abdicates to marry American Wallis Simpson, Bertie, as his successor, is crowned King George VI. George becomes King as radio is taking off as a mass medium and the Second World War looms. Thrust into the international spotlight he must speak not only to the nation but to the people of the British Empire, across the world. His wife, Queen Elizabeth - the future Queen Mother - is tireless in her belief in him. Having tried all the traditional doctors she engages unorthodox outsider, Logue, to help him find a voice that can inspire a nation on the brink of war.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:06 | In period pieces, everyone wears hats. I have already learnt not to trust them. |
| 2:35 | Back when the BBC was just a man and a microphone. |
| 3:45 | Loads of horses on the grass at Wembley. That won't help the pitch. |
| 4:35 | Why would he make the speech knowing that he can't? |
| 5:57 | It worked on My Fair Lady. |
| 11:05 | Ooh, people that say controversial with a hard s. |
| 12:22 | "Why bring it up if you can't talk about it?" Indeed. |
| 13:15 | Is that the girl from Outnumbered? Are there no other children in the world? |
| 16:39 | Auditions are so awkward! |
| 21:47 | "My castle, my rules." |
| 25:26 | Mr C sniggered at the Silvertone. I don't know what it is. |
| 29:10 | King George seems pretty miffed about those pesky subjects. |
| 33:58 | When he shouts, he seems okay. Shouting could work. |
| 35:58 | He did say he was willing to work hard. |
| 43:03 | Becoming King like that must be the best and hardest day of your life. |
| 45:01 | Does he know ALL of Shakespeare off by heart? |
| 48:00 | Being called peculiar is definitely a compliment. Who'd want to be normal? |
| 50:19 | I hope Elizabeth isn't the one from Outnumbered. |
| 52:23 | Is this all true? Who knew the Royal Family was like this? |
| 55:38 | Can you really go from Auf Weidersehen Pet to being Winston Churchill? |
| 1:01:09 | It's treason to prefer on Royal as a King than another? A lot of people have some explaining to do re: Charles/Wills. |
| 1:07:16 | I wish he had called himself Albert. Keeping track of all the Georges is hard. |
| 1:09:44 | I can't imagine changing the Queen. She's always been there. |
| 1:17:16 | Is it wrong to admit I only just realised that makes Helena the Queen Mother? |
| 1:23:29 | He must know by now that he can't do it without him. |
| 1:29:47 | Need to do more research on Prime Ministers before Winston Churchill. |
| 1:33:53 | That Corgi kinda broke the tension. |
| 1:37:07 | Turning off the red light is genius. |
| 1:45:21 | All the congratulations are fair enough, but don't they just show no one had any faith he could do it? |
| 1:45:49 | The trouble with a job like Lionel's is that his greatest success means saying goodbye. |
Thoughts
With this film being absolutely everywhere and winning every possible award there was, it's been hard to ignore. We both wanted to see it, due to the hype, but weren't particularly looking forward to it. You might call it required viewing, and eventually we got round to it.
It was fine, interesting, well-made. I'm impressed with the speech at the end - brave filmmaking if nothing else. The trouble is, it didn't really feel very grand. It felt like a five-part BBC documentary pasted together and put on screen. The characters were all excellent, and acting good, but it was a bit who's who of British drama which broke the tension a bit. Overall, I liked it, but I'm not clear on what makes something Oscar-worthy.
Rating: 3 / 5