*Now, there is a lot more to this movie and if i tried to write everything i would write 20 pages. There is the history behind the movie and the complicated royal relationships and just.. relationships between the people being portrayed. This movie is a very good movie, don't judge it just on this review. It might suck really much( the review).
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Produced by: Ian Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
Screenplay by: David SeidlerStarring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon
Music by: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography: Danny Cohen, BSC
Editing by: Tariq Anwar
Studio: UK Film Council, See-Saw Films, Bedlam Productions
Distributed by: Momentum Pictures, The Weinstein Company
Release Date(s): 6 September 2010 (Telluride Film Festival), 7 January 2011 (UK)
Running Time: 118 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Budget: 15 million dollars
Box Office: 414,211,549 dollars
The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.
My Review:
This movie is a true story, a historical true story about how King George VI, played by Colin Firth, got over his stammer with the help of an Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush, who worked on soldiers that returned from war and had such mental scarring they couldn't speak.
The movie starts with Prince Albert or Duke of York or the second son of King George V rehearsing with his wife the speech his father wanted him to give after himself. First funny part comes then. How do you feel about watching a guy gurgle water in his throat? You get a close-up of that! Then the Duke of York has to give his speech, but he can't do it because of his stammer.(You can see people lowering their heads in shame of having such a person in the royal family. It makes it even worse actually.) He has had it since early childhood and no one has been able to cure him of it. He has tried many many therapists with very weird methods, some of them being smoking and putting 7 glass balls into his mouth and trying to read a book out loud. Though, i suppose the last one is more good for your concentration on NOT SWALLOWING THE FRIGGEN BALLS!
Then the wife, played by Helena Bonham Carter, finds a therapist on Harley street and goes to check him out. Under a false name that the Duke of York used during his time in the army, she visits Lionel Logue and tries to get him to visit their home and cure her husband. Lionel refuses to go, but is willing to see him in his own office, thinking that she is just a common woman and he makes his own rules. Also, he doesn't change his mind about this even when she says: " What is my husband is the Duke of York?" . Though, he is quite shocked after the revelation. But he goes with the flow and is like " So? You want help? Come and get it. My rules work here. "
When Prince Albert and his wife come to therapy for the first time he doesn't believe it will help much. The wife, Elizabeth, has to stay outside and wait for him to finish. During the sessions a loooooot of British humor comes out.( To me, it is very hilarious, but if you don't like British humor, do not watch this movie! ) Lionel makes Bertie, he just wanted to call him something personal - Albert to Bertie?, get it ?-, read lines from a book while he listens to music. He records it and gives it to Bertie when he decides to leave in a fit of rage. After Bertie listens to it in his own home he decides to go back and get help from Lionel.
They do really weird exercises, which i wont spoil, they are really funny. And doing those during speeches helps him a bit, but not permanently. Then we meet the older brother. He is planning to marry a woman, who has been divorced TWICE, which is forbidden for royal family because of religion and stuff.
Then the father dies, making the older brother, who cries like a wuss, the King and leaving everything in his hands. He doesn't want it if he cannot marry the woman . So, after some time, during which there is some other action too just this would get so long, he abdicates and his brother becomes king, the king who stammers. He doesn't want it, because they are almost at war with Hitler and Stalin is plotting his own plans also.
During therapy we learn many things about the terrible childhood he had and what actually caused the stammer to develop, i guess. Also, he manages to insult Lionel after he learns his true identity and feels insulted for being lied to, then he ignored Lionel like a 5 year old .
They make up and have some more sessions. Then there is the coronation. Lionel pisses him off by not honoring the whole... sacred chairs and stuff in the church and somehow makes him want to be helped by Lionel to speak 4 simple lines infront of a huge crowd and tadah! he is king and instead of being called Prince Albert or King Albert, now he is called King George VI. The movie gets close to the end with him having to give a speech about being at war with Germany, the start of the Second World War. He calls Lionel over so that he would have his support. And... he gives the speech very well, at first with some difficulty, but then he gets the hang of it. Afterwards, the King and his family step onto the balcony of the palace to be viewed and applauded by the thousands who have gathered.
Before the credits roll in, there are some written lines on the screen, about what happened with their relationship afterwards.
Bonus pictures for people who scrolled so far:
No comments:
Post a Comment