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Friday, April 26, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD THE KING'S SPEECH
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ****
A king is expected to be regal, to be able to move his subjects with the power
of his oratory. Stammering is the last defect you`d expect in him. And yet,
there was one such king.
Director Tom Hooper turns the stammering of one who would be king into the story
of a nation rising against fascism.
King George VI, before being crowned, had an unusual stammer. When circumstances
lead him to the throne, he is distraught at his own handicap. But trained by an
unorthodox speech therapist, the king overcomes not only his speech impediment,
but gains his confidence and leads Britain during the dark times of World War
II, with Hitler right at the country`s doors.
Yet, it is not just the lessons that he receives, but the interaction with a
common man - his therapist - that truly stands out. It is this subtlety that is
inserted into the script with delicate charm by writer David Seidler and becomes
one of the strongest points of the film.
It takes masterly craft to tell a simple, small story convincingly. Director Tom
Hooper uses a lot of camera tricks to do that - low angle shots, extreme close
ups, and wide angle close up shots to heighten the claustrophobia of a man whose
speech is trapped inside his throat. Yet, where he shines is in not going
overboard with it.
And this restraint indeed is the greatest strength of a film that really does
not cover any new ground, either cinematically or in any other way. The camera
does not impose, and neither do the dialogue or the actors. What could have been
a melodrama at the hands of a less adept director, thankfully becomes a
cinematic crowning jewel in the hands of Hooper.
It is a film filled with such quiet moments of doubt, that despite having
nothing new, the film seems like a new take on the overcoming-the-odds genre. No
wonder, the emotional film has come out on top at the Oscars and Golden Globe
awards.
Politically, the film is not just the story of a stammering man. The analogy is
of a nation which aspires to world domination stammering at the prospect of a
dictator at their shores. Can a stammering king stand between Hitler and total
ruin?
He does, and there in lies the message for a world still fighting fascist
dictators and governments - anyone can stand up, all that is needed is a strong
will.
Speaking of the actors, one is so taken in by the king`s character, that it is
hard to imagine that Colin Firth has delivered pages of dialogues in one breath
in his other films.
His efforts tell you that it is indeed easy to speak in a film, but to not do
so, to not really have even one free flowing line, without doubt draws out the
best out of an actor. Colin soars, and in this portrayal of an uncertain
monarch, shows even royalty has to contend with everyday problems.
