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The film stars Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helped George VI overcome a stammer. Filming commenced in the United Kingdom in November 2009. The film was given a limited release in the United States on 26 November 2010[2] before giving it a wide release on 10 December 2010 and it was given general release across the UK on 7 January 2011.
Plot
The film opens as The Prince Albert, Duke of York, son of King George V, prepares to speak before the 1925 Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, with his wife Elizabeth by his side. His stammering speech visibly unsettles the thousands of listeners in the audience. Albert seeks to overcome his speech impediment, seeing one therapist who suggests smoking as a throat relaxant and reading with seven sterilized marbles in his mouth, claiming the practice curedDemosthenes of his stammer. After nearly choking, he vows to cease any further attempts at rehabilitation.
Behind his back, the Duchess of York meets with Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist now living in London, and persuades her husband to attempt Logue's radical treatments. In their first session, Logue insists on calling the Duke "Bertie" (a pet name used by Albert's family). He insists that Albert not smoke in his presence and wagers Albert one shilling that he can make him read without a stammer. He convinces Albert to read Hamlet's "To be, or not to be"soliloquy, while listening to the overture from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro on headphones. Logue records Albert's reading, but convinced that he has stammered throughout, Albert leaves in a huff. Logue offers him the recording as a keepsake.
As George V makes his first Christmas address, the king explains to his son that radio has required monarchs to become skilled actors, but at the same time the king's bullying manner towards his son is apparent. After this humiliation, Albert puts on Logue's recording and is astonished to hear an unbroken recitation of Shakespeare in his own voice. He returns to Logue, who insists on daily coaching sessions. Logue works with Albert on muscle relaxation and breath control, while simultaneously probing the psychological roots of his stammer. Over the course of the film, Albert reveals some of the pressures of his childhood; his strict father, his natural left-handedness, a painful treatment for his knock-knees and a nanny who favoured his elder brother. As the treatment progresses, the two become friends and confidants.
Upon George V's death, his eldest son Edward (known as David to his family) inherits the throne as King Edward VIII, but he appears to place his feelings for American socialite Wallis Simpson ahead of his responsibilities as king. While visiting Edward VIII at Balmoral Castle, the Duke and Duchess of York are horrified at the presumptuousness of Simpson, and Albert confronts Edward on the dereliction of his duties. Albert is astonished when Edward reveals his intent to marry Wallis once she is divorced from her second husband. Albert points out thatEdward cannot retain the throne and marry a divorced woman. Edward accuses Albert of a medieval-style plot to usurp his throne, citing Albert's speech lessons as an attempt to ready himself for power. Albert is tongue-tied at the accusation, and Edward cruelly resurrects his childhood taunt of "B-B-Bertie".
At his next lesson, the encounter has so incensed Albert that it is all he can talk about. In a misguided attempt to console him, Logue insists that Albert could indeed be king. Albert's temper flares, and he cruelly mocks Logue's failed acting career and humble origins, causing a rift in their friendship which is only repaired after Edward has abdicated the throne. Now King George VI, he needs Logue's help and travels to his home to apologize. Their professional relationship becomes public during his coronation, when he insists that Logue be seated in the King's box. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, is threatened by Logue's presence, and he initiates an investigation into Logue which reveals that he is not accredited in speech therapy. This prompts another confrontation between the King and Logue, in which Logue presumptuously slumps in King Edward's Chair. The King's furious, but clear and authoritative, roaring at Lionel's gesture leads him to realize that he is just as worthy of the throne as his brother or any of the other kings before him.
Upon the 1939 declaration of war with Germany, George VI is given a three-page speech to read over the radio. He summons Logue toBuckingham Palace. With only forty minutes to rehearse, Logue runs the King through all of the techniques he has learned, which include copious amounts of swearing and body movements. When the broadcast draws near, the King and Logue move through the ceremonial rooms of the palace to a tiny studio. The King delivers his speech to Logue, who coaches him through every moment. The many pauses necessitated to prevent his stammer sound convincingly dramatic, and the speech is a success. George VI poses for a staged photo at his desk, where he pretends to read the speech. As Logue watches, the King steps onto the balcony of the palace with his family, where thousands of people assembled for the speech applaud him.
A final credit explains that, during the many speeches King George VI gave during World War II, Logue was always present. Furthermore, Logue was given the rare honour of being inducted into the Royal Victorian Order for his service to the King and the two remained friends for the rest of their lives.
[edit]Cast
- Colin Firth as King George VI
- Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth
- Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue
- Guy Pearce as King Edward VIII (later, The Duke of Windsor)
- Michael Gambon as King George V
- Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill
- Jennifer Ehle as Myrtle Logue
- Derek Jacobi as Cosmo Gordon Lang (Archbishop of Canterbury)
- Anthony Andrews as Stanley Baldwin
- Eve Best as Wallis Simpson
- Freya Wilson as Princess Elizabeth
- Ramona Marquez as Princess Margaret
- Claire Bloom as Queen Mary
[edit]Production
The King's Speech started life as a screenplay, when writer David Seidler decided to plunge himself into creative work after being diagnosed with cancer. After completing the script and finding himself in remission, he showed it to his wife. She liked the script, but thought it was too caught up in the technical language of film, and suggested he re-write it as a play, in order to force him to focus on the characters. Seidler scrapped his original screenplay and wrote a play from scratch based on his research. After he had completed it, he decided he quite liked it and sent it to a few people for feedback.[3]
In early 2006, one of the people Seidler sent his play to asked if they could forward it to producer Joan Lane, at the London based production company Wild Thyme. Lane saw the script as a potential screen drama as well as stage play, showed it to film colleague Simon Egan at Bedlam Productions and Egan recorded the first rehearsed read-through. With a view to mounting a stage production, Wild Thyme sent the script to Geoffrey Rush for his interest, simultaneously championing film director Tom Hooper for any future screen adaptation; and Bedlam Productions passed the script to Iain Canning at See Saw Films. Although there had been interest in a stage production in London's West End, the film production with its stellar cast took precedence. Producer Gareth Unwin of Bedlam Productions read the play and thought it would make a good feature film.[4] The UK Film Council awarded the production £1 million in June 2009. A script read-through was held on 11 November, ahead of the beginning of filming on 13 November. Principal photography, scheduled to last seven weeks, concluded on 17 January.[5][6]
On 25 November, Rush and Derek Jacobi took part in filming at the Pullens buildings in Southwark.[7] On 26 November, a week's filming began at Ely Cathedral.[8] Scenes featuring Firth, Rush and Jacobi were shot there.[9] Other locations include Cumberland Lodge, Lancaster House, Harley Street, Knebworth [(Hatfield House)], Queen Street Mill Textile Museum in Burnley, and Battersea Power Station.[10] The opening scene, set at the closing ceremony of the 1925 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, was filmed on location at Elland Road, home of Leeds United and Odsal Stadium, home of Bradford Bulls. Elland Road was used for the speech elements of the prince stammering his way through his first public address, and Odsal Stadium was selected because of its resemblance to Wembley Stadium in 1925. [11] [12] An open casting call for extras was put out ahead of an expected filming date of 16 December 2009.[13][14] Elstree Studiosprovided soundstages for some interior filming.[7][15]
The final cut of the film was completed on 31 August 2010.[16]
[edit]Historical accuracy
According to screenwriter David Seidler, director Tom Hooper insisted on being as historically accurate as possible, the two of them working together for four months to get the best from the script, and ensure its authenticity.[3]
According to a BBC interview with Lionel Logue's grandson, the film team became aware of Logue's original notes on his treatment of the duke only some nine weeks prior to shooting.[17] They then went back and re-worked the script to reflect what was in the notes.[3]
Nonetheless, issues have been raised about the film's accuracy. Professor Cathy Schultz, for example, points out that, for dramatic reasons, the film-makers tightened the chronology of the events shown, so that they appeared to take place over just a few years. The Duke of York, in fact, began to work with Lionel Logue in October 1926, ten years before the abdication crisis.[18]
Writing in The New Republic, Isaac Chotiner argues that the film plays down the sympathy shown by David (Prince of Wales, Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor) and Wallis for the Nazi regime in Germany. It also, he argues, obscures the subsequent apparent support of George VI for the policy of appeasement practised by the prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, during the late 1930s (exemplified by the royal family's appearance at the balcony of Buckingham Palace with Chamberlain after his return from the Munich Conference).[19]
Chotiner adds that the film seriously distorts the role of Winston Churchill during the abdication crisis. The film portrays Churchill as counselling the Duke of York and critical of the conduct of Edward VIII, whereas Churchill in reality took an isolated stand among senior British political figures in encouraging Edward VIII to resist the pressures on him to abdicate.[20]
[edit]Release
The film is distributed by Transmission in Australia and by Momentum Pictures in the United Kingdom.[5] The Weinstein Company is the distributor in North America, Germany, France, Benelux, Scandinavia, China, Hong Kong and Latin America.[21]
The official US poster was released on 2 December 2010.[22]
The film had its world premiere on 4 September 2010 at the Telluride Film Festival in the United States.[16] At its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was met with a standing ovation.[23] The TIFF release of The King's Speech fell on Firth's 50th birthday and was called the "best 50th birthday gift".[24] The film won the People's Choice Award at the festival.[25]
[edit]Reception
[edit]Box office
In the UK and Ireland, the film became box office number one, and took in £3,510,000 in its opening weekend from 395 cinemas.[26]
In the United States The King's Speech opened with $355,450 in four theatres, averaging $88,863 per theatre. It holds the record for the highest per theatre gross of 2010.[27]
In Australia, the film opened on Boxing Day 2010 and made more than $6,281,686 in the first two weeks, according to figures collected by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia. The executive director of Palace Cinemas, Benjamin Zeccola, said customer feedback on the film was spectacular. "It's our No.1 for all the period, all throughout the country. ... I think this is more successful than Slumdog Millionaire and a more uplifting film. It's a good example of a film that started out in the independent cinemas and then spread to the mainstream cinemas."[28]
[edit]Critical response
The King's Speech has received critical acclaim.[29][30][31][32][33] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 95% based on reviews from 177 critics, with an average score of 8.7/10. The critical consensus is: "Colin Firth gives a masterful performance inThe King's Speech, a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama."[34]
Empire gave the film five stars out of five, commenting, "You’ll be lost for words."[35] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave four stars out of five, stating, "Tom Hooper's richly enjoyable and handsomely produced movie... is a massively confident crowd-pleaser."[36] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film four stars out of four, commenting that "what we have here is a superior historical drama and a powerful personal one
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