Director Tom Hooper’s British drama about the power of words and the man lacking the stature and power of such abilities in the face of a looming evil with the power of speech is something of a quaint animal. Seemingly sneaking out of nowhere, Hooper’s drama is a film not only about a man stricken with the disability of stammering, but a man finding his power in the face of ultimate powers around him. This is a man of pure impotence, a man whose felt dwarfed by the importance around him. And when he’s finally forced in to the world that demands his capacity to become an individual, now it’s a time where he must show the world that he is someone of immense presence. He is someone demanding of a capable individuality. Even to his wife whose unabashed support is laced with a sense of patronizing tone and dominance over his lack of speech functionality.
What “The King’s Speech” conveys is that in the end it’s not just a speech, it’s not just a statement, it’s a declaration of power and respect. It’s the single most indication that the King George IV can run the country. Speech means stature, and his facility to deliver this speech without stuttering or stammering will decide if he’s taken seriously, or played for a fool by his people for the rest of his days. The country and the family’s dignity hinges on the delivery of this one swearing to oath and the speech following. This is his challenge to the rise of Hitler, for better or for worse. King George is a man whose entire world revolves around being talked down to and condescended and his inability to speak a proper sentence is surely based around his insignificance as a man and even a patriarch.
He’s a man of surefire reluctance to express himself. And in the face of pure confidence he wavers and shrinks. That is until he meets Lionel Loque, a failed thespian who has taken to speech therapy to pay for his expenses at a time where his stance in the theatrical world has faltered. And what begins as a meeting of two frustrated men, one of whom can barely mutter a sentence, transforms in to a clashing of two methods of old world and new world methodology that becomes a symbiotic relationship between two men who find a purpose in a world that demands one through their own profession.
When King George’s brother abdicates his throne to marry his wife, George is faced with an even greater task of not only leading a world he’s hidden in the shadows of and remained of mere unimportance in, but giving a speech that can and will define his power as a leader. What becomes an ominous presence among the film is the lingering evil of Hitler and his strength of nazism destroying and consuming the world. And with George’s speech, he will challenge Hitler’s grasp on his army that unifies them through the strength of words. The performances are absolutely immaculate, especially from the great Colin Firth whose own sense of sadness and sheer misery can be heard with every stammer and every single word he mutters struggling to burst from his shell as a man stifled by every single person in his life from the time of childhood.
Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter respectively, are fantastic as his supporting team who guide him in to the most important words of his life. Hooper’s direction if marvelous with a tone and atmosphere that becomes darker and more dread filled with every passing minute, and sinks in to a purely inspiring tale of a man finding power at a time where his country needs it the most as they face the Nazis in the cusp of world war II. “The King’s Speech” is a superb piece of dramatic filmmaking and one deserving of every accolade imaginable. “The King’s Speech” is a film that will live on in cinema history, a compelling and gripping declaration of the impact of words and the power it can build in and around a kingdom. It’s a fantastic cinematic experience with its premise based around looming threat of pure menace, inspirational message, and top notch performances from a grade A cast of pure heavyweights.