The King's Speech

The King’s Speech was an excellent movie.  I think the fact that it was based on true events gave it one of the best elements of a good story.  I am always fascinated with true stories and find myself drawn to this type of movie.  The plot was very unified throughout, and very credible.  It had elements of the way things are and the way things are supposed to be.  Bertie felt that he would never be cured of his speech impediment, therefore he would never be fit to be the King of England – his version of the way things really are.  However, his wife Elizabeth and his speech coach, Lionel had the faith and trust in Bertie that he would overcome this obstacle and would make a fine king, their version of the way things are supposed to be.

I found this story to be interesting, although sometimes the action lagged a bit.  I can only imagine the difficulty in trying to make this subject matter suspenseful and action packed.  The suspense came slowly, as a build up to the final speech. This was a very simple story without a lot of complexity.  Perhaps it was that way because most people, myself included knew elements of this story from history. The emotional material was well used; I had empathy for Bertie from the start.

I loved the title of this film, The King’s Speech.  It had a few meanings, and made use of irony of situation.  It referred both the King’s speech impediment and to this triumphant final and famous speech in 1939 when England declared war on Germany.  The dramatic structure of this film was very chronological, with the film opening up with Bertie as Prince Albert attempting to give a speech and ending many years later when he was King George VI.

The conflict in this film was both internal conflict for Bertie and conflict in his relationship with Lionel.  When Lionel suggested that he call the King by his given name, and then actually used his nickname of Bertie, it was very difficult for the King to accept.  Another conflict was between Bertie and his brother David, who became King Edward VIII upon his father’s death.  Bertie could not understand his brother’s relationship with Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.  When Bertie confronts him at a party, David teases him and mocks him by stuttering his name.  This simple act of childishness showed the audience how it must have been growing up between the two brothers, a childhood of conflict.

The characterization through appearance and dialogue was just as I would have thought for this film.  Very regal and formal in appearance and with proper dialogue.  The exception was when Bertie used profanity, which actually took me a bit by surprise. (I guess royalty is no exception to cursing!)  There were a variety of stock characters in this film.  The only two that were developing characters were Bertie and Lionel.

I give this film neither a thumbs up or down.  It held my interest and was entertaining, but not one that I would choose to see again.

Works Cited

Boggs, J. M., & Petrie, D. W. (2008). The Art of Watching Films (7th Edition ed.). Ashford University: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.