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The King's Speech

The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.

• David Seidler
• Colin Firth
• Geoffrey Rush
• Helena Bonham Carter
• 831 User reviews
• 486 Critic reviews
• 88 Metascore
• 108 wins & 206 nominations total

• King George VI

• Lionel Logue

• Queen Elizabeth

• Archbishop Cosmo Lang

• Private Secretary

• BBC Radio Announcer

• Robert Wood

• BBC Technician

• Dr. Blandine Bentham

• Laurie Logue

• Myrtle Logue

• Valentine Logue
• Anthony Logue

• Princess Elizabeth

• Princess Margaret

• Theatre Director
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Best Picture Winners by Year

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• Trivia Nine weeks before filming began, Lionel Logue's grandson, Mark Logue , discovered a large box in his attic that contained his grandfather's personal papers. The box held Lionel Logue's diary, his appointment book, notes from his speech therapy sessions with King George VI , and over 100 personal letters to Logue from the King. It also contained what is believed to be the actual copy of the speech used by George VI in his 1939 radio broadcast announcing the declaration of war with Germany. Mark Logue turned his grandfather's papers, letters, and diary over to director Tom Hooper and screenwriter David Seidler , who used them to flesh out the relationship between Logue and the King. Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth also read through the material for insight into their characters. The exchange in this movie between Logue and King George VI following his radio speech ("You still stammered on the 'W'." / "Well, I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me.") was taken directly from Logue's diary. Firth insisted that it should be included in the movie.
• Goofs In the final speech, King George VI has one blue eye and one brown eye. Colin Firth had lost a contact lens.

King George VI : All that... work... down the drain. My own... b... brother, I couldn't say a single w-word to him in reply.

Lionel Logue : Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?

King George VI : 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen.

Lionel Logue : Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl.

King George VI : Stop trying to be so bloody clever.

Lionel Logue : What is it about David that stops you speaking?

King George VI : What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?

Lionel Logue : Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear.

King George VI : Oh, bugger off!

Lionel Logue : Is that the best you can do?

King George VI : [like an elocution lesson] Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.

Lionel Logue : Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.

King George VI : Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Lionel Logue : Yes!

King George VI : Shit!

Lionel Logue : Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!

King George VI : Because I'm angry!

Lionel Logue : Do you know the f-word?

King George VI : F... f... fornication?

Lionel Logue : Oh, Bertie.

King George VI : Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse!

Lionel Logue : Yes...

King George VI : Balls, balls...

Lionel Logue : ...you see, not a hesitation!

King George VI : ...fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and... tits.

• Crazy credits In the end credit roll, Philip Clements is listed twice as Assistant Sound Editor.
• Connections Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 22 October 2010 (2010)
• Soundtracks Le nozze di Figaro Overture Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [During the first therapy session when King's voice is being recorded]

User reviews 831

• pauletterich-la
• Dec 18, 2017
• Just what time frame are we talking about here?
• What causes Bertie's stammer?
• Why couldn't King Edward marry Wallis Simpson?
• December 25, 2010 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Official Site
• Nhà Vua Nói Lắp
• Elland Road Football Stadium, Elland Road, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK (as Wembley Stadium at start of film)
• The Weinstein Company
• UK Film Council
• Momentum Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $15,000,000 (estimated)
• $138,797,449
• Nov 28, 2010
• $484,068,861

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 58 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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The King’s Speech Parent Guide

Audiences of all ages could benefit from watching this timid man attempting to conquer his worst fears..

One of the biggest impediments to George VI (Colin Firth) performing his royal duties is a stutter, so the skills of a therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) are sought to assist in improving The King's Speech.

Release date December 22, 2010

Run Time: 119 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by donna gustafson.

What would you do if you were being considered for a high profile job that required a lot of public presenting, but you had a speech impediment? Chances are you’d politely turn down the opportunity. However, for Albert Frederick Arthur George of the House of Windsor (played by Colin Firth), bowing out simply isn’t an option.

Born the second son of King George V of England (Michael Gambon), His Royal Highness The Duke of York never expected to sit on the throne. Yet the unwanted prospect of wearing the crown becomes increasingly likely as his father’s health falters and his older brother Edward (Guy Pearce) insists on pursuing a romantic relationship with Wallis Simpson (Eve Best). The American divorcée does not meet the approval of the British parliament, so the Heir Apparent will be forced to abdicate his royal right to reign if he decides to marry her. Meanwhile, the winds of war are beginning to blow again over Europe as Nazi Germany rises in power.

Unlike the experts the Duke has seen in the past, who have advised everything from filling his mouth with marbles to smoking cigarettes to relax his vocal cords, Lionel takes a very different approach. Along with insisting they work on a first name basis (he calls His Royal Highness “Bertie”—a moniker reserved only for use by the closest of family members), he also employs loud music and wagers of inconsequential sums of money. His most revolutionary suggestion however is rooting out the issue by looking for its possible psychological causes.

With a classic “stiff upper lip” the Johnsons decline any probing into their personal lives, preferring to stick to the mechanics of elocution. While Lionel is willing to concentrate on physical techniques and exercises, from experience he knows making any real progress will be unlikely until these personal aspects are addressed.

Family audiences may be confused by the Restricted rating awarded this historical drama by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). The concerns arise when Lionel encourages the tongue-tied Prince to let loose a litany of curses, because people seldom stammer while swearing. This unconventional treatment plan results in the repeated utterance of many mild, moderate and extreme profanities, including numerous uses of a sexual expletive. Similar cussing is heard again in a later scene.

Such foul language is regrettable because there is little other objectionable content, except depictions of smoking and references to immoral behavior. Audiences of all ages could benefit from watching this timid man attempting to conquer his worst fears. Although individual struggles may vary, the story of the shy soul who goes on to become King George VI of England speaks volumes about what can be achieved when a person has the love and support of some strong allies.

About author

Donna Gustafson

Watch the trailer for the king’s speech.

The King’s Speech Rating & Content Info

Why is The King’s Speech rated R? The King’s Speech is rated R by the MPAA for some language.

Violence: Child neglect/abuse is mentioned.

Sexual Content: A man’s sexual relationship with a married woman is discussed. A man makes obscure sexual comments to a woman on the phone. References are made about a woman’s sexual skills.

Language: Infrequent use of mild and moderate profanities throughout. Two scenes include the repeated use of an extreme sexual expletive, along with other scatological terms and expletives.

Drugs and Alcohol: Frequent depictions of smoking. Some experts recommend smoking to relax vocal cords, while another claims it is unhealthy. Alcohol is drunk in social settings.

Page last updated May 9, 2020

The King’s Speech Parents' Guide

Click here to learn more about King George VI.

What kind of relationship did The Duke of York have with his father and his brother? How did that affect him? What kind of relationship does he have with his wife? How does that impact his confidence?

Lionel says that babies are not born with speech impediments. What kinds of things does he attribute to causing stuttering problems? What things from your past might be contributing to present day troubles? How can you address such issues?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

To learn more about King George VI, Sarah Bradfords biography "George VI" is a good place to start. Children might enjoy "The Mouth With a Mind of Its Own" by Patricia L. Mervine, about a boy named Matthew who struggles to make himself understood until he starts attending speech therapy.

The most recent home video release of The King’s Speech movie is April 19, 2011. Here are some details…

The King’s Speech release to DVD and Blu-ray on April 19, 2011, with the following bonus extras:

- Audio Commentary

- Making Of Featurette

- Deleted Scenes

Related home video titles:

British royalty have been the subject of many movie scripts including The Young Victoria (who was King George VI Great Grandmother) , The Queen (about Elizabeth II, his daughter) , and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (a relative to both himself and his wife) .

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"The King's Speech" tells the story of a man compelled to speak to the world with a stammer. It must be painful enough for one who stammers to speak to another person. To face a radio microphone and know the British Empire is listening must be terrifying. At the time of the speech mentioned in this title, a quarter of the Earth's population was in the Empire, and of course much of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia would be listening — and with particular attention, Germany.

The king was George VI. The year was 1939. Britain was entering into war with Germany. His listeners required firmness, clarity and resolve, not stammers punctuated with tortured silences. This was a man who never wanted to be king. After the death of his father, the throne was to pass to his brother Edward. But Edward renounced the throne "in order to marry the woman I love," and the duty fell to Prince Albert, who had struggled with his speech from an early age.

In "The King's Speech," director Tom Hooper opens on Albert ( Colin Firth ), attempting to open the British Empire Exhibition in 1925. Before a crowded arena and a radio audience, he seizes up in agony in efforts to make the words come out right. His father, George V ( Michael Gambon ), has always considered "Bertie" superior to Edward ( Guy Pearce ), but mourns the introduction of radio and newsreels, which require a monarch to be seen and heard on public occasions.

At that 1925 speech, we see Bertie's wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), her face filled with sympathy. As it becomes clear that Edward's obsession with Wallis Simpson (Eve Best) is incurable, she realizes her Bertie may face more public humiliation. He sees various speech therapists, one of whom tries the old marbles-in-the-mouth routine first recommended by Demosthenes. Nothing works, and then she seeks out a failed Australian actor named Lionel Logue ( Geoffrey Rush ), who has set up a speech therapy practice.

Logue doesn't realize at first who is consulting him. And one of the subjects of the film is Logue's attitude toward royalty, which I suspect is not untypical of Australians; he suggests to Albert that they get on a first-name basis. Albert has been raised within the bell jar of the monarchy and objects to such treatment, not because he has an elevated opinion of himself but because, well, it just isn't done. But Logue realizes that if he is to become the king's therapist, he must first become his friend.

If the British monarchy is good for nothing else, it's superb at producing the subjects of films. "The King's Speech," rich in period detail and meticulous class distinctions, largely sidesteps the story that loomed over this whole period, Edward's startling decision to give up the crown to marry a woman who was already divorced three times. Indeed, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (as they became) would occupy an inexplicable volume of attention for years, considering they had no significance after the Duke's abdication. The unsavory thing is that Wallis Simpson considered herself worthy of such a sacrifice from the man she allegedly loved. This film finds a more interesting story about better people; Americans, who aren't always expert on British royalty, may not necessarily realize that Albert and wife Elizabeth were the parents of Queen Elizabeth II. God knows what Edward might have fathered.

Director Tom Hooper makes an interesting decision with his sets and visuals. The movie is largely shot in interiors, and most of those spaces are long and narrow. That's unusual in historical dramas, which emphasize sweep and majesty and so on. Here we have long corridors, a deep and narrow master control room for the BBC, rooms that seem peculiarly oblong. I suspect he may be evoking the narrow, constricting walls of Albert's throat as he struggles to get words out.

The film largely involves the actors Colin Firth, formal and decent, and Geoffrey Rush, large and expansive, in psychological struggle. Helena Bonham Carter, who can be merciless (as in the "Harry Potter" films), is here filled with mercy, tact and love for her husband; this is the woman who became the much-loved Queen Mother of our lifetimes, dying in 2002 at 101. As the men have a struggle of wills, she tries to smooth things (and raise her girls Elizabeth and Margaret). And in the wider sphere, Hitler takes power, war comes closer, Mrs. Simpson wreaks havoc, and the dreaded day approaches when Bertie, as George VI, will have to speak to the world and declare war.

Hooper's handling of that fraught scene is masterful. Firth internalizes his tension and keeps the required stiff upper lip, but his staff and household are terrified on his behalf as he marches toward a microphone as if it is a guillotine. It is the one scene in the film that must work, and it does, and its emotional impact is surprisingly strong. At the end, what we have here is a superior historical drama and a powerful personal one. And two opposites who remain friends for the rest of their lives.

Note: The R rating refers to Logue's use of vulgarity. It is utterly inexplicable. This is an excellent film for teenagers.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The King's Speech (2010)

Rated R for language

118 minutes

Directed by

• David Seidler

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The king's speech.

• Parents say (65)
• Kids say (126)

Based on 126 kid reviews

Excellent Drama is Slow-Paced and Has Some Language.

This title has:

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Really great, from what i remember, this should be pg-13, it's just some language mpa. on another note, great biopic of king george vi, wait for the right age: a moving drama that might bore kids, excellent drama about english family has swearing, it should be rated pg, amazing movie, has tons of language, r really. that’s a little bit to much., it is quite interesting.

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Movie Review | 'The King’s Speech'

The King’s English, Albeit With Twisted Tongue

By Manohla Dargis

• Nov. 25, 2010

British films that make it to American screens these days often fall into two distinct niches: life is miserable and life is sweet (to borrow a title from the director Mike Leigh, who oscillates between the two). Given its quality headliners and high commercial profile (ding-dong, is that Oscar calling?), it’s no surprise that “The King’s Speech,” a buddy story about aggressively charming opposites — Colin Firth as the stutterer who would be king and Geoffrey Rush as the speech therapist — comes with heaping spoonfuls of sugar.

The story largely unfolds during the Great Depression, building to the compulsory rousing end in 1939 when Britain declared war on Nazi Germany, world calamities that don’t have a patch on the urgent matter of the speech impediment of Albert Frederick Arthur George (Mr. Firth). As a child, Albert, or Bertie as his family called him, the shy, sickly second son of King George V (Michael Gambon, memorably severe and regal), had a stutter debilitating enough that as an adult he felt compelled to conquer it. In this he was aided by his wife, Elizabeth (a fine Helena Bonham Carter), a steely Scottish rose and the mother of their daughters, Elizabeth, the future queen (Freya Wilson), and Margaret (Ramona Marquez).

Albert meets his new speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Mr. Rush), reluctantly and only after an assortment of public and private humiliations. (In one botched effort, a doctor instructs Albert to talk with a mouthful of marbles, a gagging endeavor that might have altered the imminent monarchical succession.) As eccentric and expansive as Albert is reserved, Logue enters the movie with a flourish, insisting that they meet in his shabby-chic office and that he be permitted to call his royal client, then the Duke of York, by the informal Bertie. It’s an ideal odd coupling, or at least that’s what the director Tom Hooper would have us believe as he jumps from one zippy voice lesson to the next, pausing every so often to wring a few tears.

To that generally diverting end, Albert barks and brays and raps out a calculatingly cute string of expletives, including the four-letter kind that presumably earned this cross-demographically friendly film its R. With their volume turned up, the appealing, impeccably professional Mr. Firth and Mr. Rush rise to the Acting occasion by twinkling and growling as their characters warily circle each other before settling into the therapeutic swing of things and unknowingly preparing for the big speech that partly gives the film its title. Before you know it, Elizabeth (Ms. Bonham Carter), the future dumpling known as the Queen Mother, is sitting on Bertie’s chest during an exercise while he lies on Logue’s floor, an image that is as much about the reassuring ordinariness of the royals as it is about Albert’s twisting tongue.

It isn’t exactly “Pygmalion,” not least because Mr. Hooper has no intention of satirizing the caste system that is one of this movie’s biggest draws. Unlike “The Queen,” a barbed look at the royal family after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, “The King’s Speech” takes a relatively benign view of the monarchy, framing Albert as a somewhat poor little rich boy condemned to live in a fishbowl, an idea that Mr. Hooper unwisely literalizes by overusing a fisheye lens. The royals’ problems are largely personal, embodied by King George playing the stern 19th-century patriarch to Logue’s touchy-feely Freudian father. And while Albert initially bristles at Logue’s presumptions, theirs is finally a democracy of equals, an angle that makes their inequities go down in a most uneventful way.

Each character has his moments, instances when Bertie the closed book tentatively opens and Logue’s arrogance gets away from him, but both are too decent, too banal and the film too ingratiating to resonate deeply. Albert’s impediment certainly pales in comparison with the drama surrounding his older, popular brother, David, later King Edward VIII (a fantastic Guy Pearce), and his married American divorcée, Mrs. Wallis Simpson (Eve Best). After King George V dies, David assumes the crown and continues to carry on with Mrs. Simpson, a liaison that, because of its suggestively perverse power dynamics — at a party, she orders the new king (yoo-hooing “David”) to fetch her booze — hints at a more interesting movie than the one before you.

That film does have its attractions, notably in its two solid leads and standout support from Mr. Pearce. Mercurially sliding between levels of imperiousness and desperation, he creates a thorny tangle of complications in only a few abbreviated scenes, and when his new king viciously taunts Bertie, you see the entirety of their cruel childhood flashing between them. By the time he abdicates in 1936, publicly pledging himself to Mrs. Simpson (“the woman I love”), turning the throne over to King George VI, Edward has a hold on your affections. Those would surely lessen if the film tagged after him when he and Mrs. Simpson subsequently took their post-abdication tour around Germany, where they had tea with Hitler and the Duke returned the Führer’s Nazi salute. Like many entertainments of this pop-historical type, “The King’s Speech” wears history lightly no matter how heavy the crown.

The King’s Speech

Opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles.

Directed by Tom Hooper; written by David Seidler; director of photography, Danny Cohen; edited by Tariq Anwar; music by Alexandre Desplat; production design by Eve Stewart; costumes by Jenny Beavan; produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin; released by the Weinstein Company. Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes.

WITH: Colin Firth (King George VI), Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue), Helena Bonham Carter (Queen Elizabeth), Guy Pearce (King Edward VIII), Jennifer Ehle (Myrtle Logue), Eve Best (Wallis Simpson), Freya Wilson (Princess Elizabeth), Ramona Marquez (Princess Margaret), Claire Bloom (Queen Mary), Derek Jacobi (Archbishop Cosmo Lang), Michael Gambon (King George V), Timothy Spall (Winston Churchill) and Anthony Andrews (Stanley Baldwin).

“The King’s Speech” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Coarse language.

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The King's Speech Reviews

A polished, well-rounded drama that subtly and artfully crafts its personal themes.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 7, 2024

This is a life-affirming picture about a complex friendship and personal conviction that’s as touching as it is inspiring, and it does all this without feeling cliché or typical.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 3, 2023

With impeccable period detail accompanied by a few great performances, The King’s Speech is a crowd-friendly, uncomplicated film with a big heart.

Full Review | Jun 27, 2023

Reminds us of a time — not long ago at all — when substance counted for something, and admiration, even among those born to privilege, had to be earned.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 1, 2023

It’s done with good taste, crisp restraint, self-effacing humor and, of course, the modesty we expect from British cinema. Stiff upper lip and all that, with just a touch of sentiment.

Full Review | Feb 4, 2023

Firth strikes a perfect balance between his abrasive traits and the vulnerability that coaxes our empathy.

Full Review | Nov 29, 2022

This spiritual odyssey deserves to be told and in the splendid manner of The King's Speech. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jul 14, 2022

"The King's Speech" tells this very personal story of therapy and friendship in such an exquisitely grand and fulfilling way.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 12, 2022

A brilliantly made Royalist drama...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 25, 2021

While there is mild mounting tension, the crux of the film rests on a mere speech recital which is in itself largely anticlimactic.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 29, 2020

The holiday season's must see film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.0/4.0 | Sep 13, 2020

A wonderfully-acted, well-crafted motion picture, but one that is also brutally dull.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 12, 2020

This Oscar-bait tour de force should leave you laughing, and perhaps shedding a tear for a very human monarch.

Full Review | Jun 8, 2020

[T]his film is a genuine delight.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 23, 2019

A strong and respectable drama that is anything but revolutionary, but admirably tells its story with dignity and grace.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 7, 2019

Firth's performance in this great film cements his status as one of the best actors working today.

Full Review | Original Score: A | May 8, 2019

Some people never learn. Which is why the great pedagogical movies are for all of us, every last one.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 20, 2019

Travel without prejudice and you will enjoy a moving, impeccably acted and surprisingly funny slice of comfort food. There are worse ways of starting an unpromising looking year.

Full Review | Feb 20, 2019

The King's Speech lingers in the mind and the emotions long after it ends, communicating to us in the spirit of Logue's work.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 16, 2019

What's so interesting about watching a stammering British royal in the 1930s learning to speak well? As it turns out, plenty.

Full Review | Jan 19, 2019

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The King’s Speech

A stirring, handsomely mounted tale of unlikely friendship starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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Americans love kings, so long as they needn’t answer to them, and no king of England had a more American success story than that admirable underdog George VI, Duke of York, who overcame a dreadful stammer to rally his people against Hitler. A stirring, handsomely mounted tale of unlikely friendship starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush , “The King’s Speech ” explores the bond between the painfully shy thirtysomething prince and the just-this-side-of-common, yet anything-but-ordinary speech therapist who gave the man back his confidence. Weinstein-backed November release should tap into the same audience that made “The Queen” a prestige hit.

Though hardly intended as a public service message, “The King’s Speech” goes a long way to repair decades of vaudeville-style misrepresentation on the subject of stuttering, which traditionally serves either for comic effect (think Porky Pig) or as lazy shorthand for a certain softness of mind, character or spine. Screenwriter David Seidler approaches the condition from another angle entirely, spotlighting a moment in history when the rise of radio and newsreels allowed the public to listen to their leaders, shifting the burden of government from intellect to eloquence.

These pressures are too much for Prince Albert (Firth), whose crippling speech impediment causes public embarrassment at 1925’s British Empire Exhibition. Director Tom Hooper (HBO’s “John Adams,” “The Damned United”) alternates between nervous Albert and the fussy yet professional BBC announcer in this opening scene to contrast one man dragged into public speaking with another who’d elected the bloody job for himself.

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Albert’s father, King George V (authoritatively played by Michael Gambon), is no more fond of the wireless, but eventually embraces the device for a series of annual Christmas addresses. Though tough on his tongue-tied son, he views Albert as a more responsible successor than his reckless brother Edward (Guy Pearce), who indeed will famously renounce the throne to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson ( Eve Best ). But George V fears the stammer is unbefitting the throne. “In the past, all a king had to do was wear a uniform and not fall off his horse,” he laments.With responsibility for the crown looming, Albert’s wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter, in her most effectively restrained performance since “The Wings of the Dove”) seeks out the services of Lionel Logue (Rush), a frustrated Australian actor turned speech therapist. As portrayed by Rush, Logue is what some politely call a “force of nature” — all bluster, no tact, yet incredibly effective in his unconventional approach, rejecting the institutional thinking of the time in favor of vocal exercises and amateur psychotherapy.

While Seidler cleverly uses the prince’s handicap as a point of entry, “The King’s Speech” centers on the rocky connection that forms between Bertie (as the speech therapist calls the prince) and Lionel, whose extraordinary friendship arises directly from the latter’s insistence on a first-name, equal-to-equal dynamic quite unlike anything the Duke of York had previously encountered. Though few would deem it scandalous today, the film rather boldly dares to humanize a figure traditionally held at arm’s length from the public and treated with divine respect, deriving much of its humor from the brusque treatment the stuffy monarch-to-be receives from the irreverent Lionel (including a litany of expletives sure to earn the otherwise all-ages-friendly film an R rating).

While far from easy, both roles provide a delightful opportunity for Firth and Rush to poke a bit of fun at their profession. Firth (who is a decade older than Albert-cum-George was at the time of his coronation, and a good deal more handsome) has used the “stammering Englishman” stereotype frequently enough before, in such films as “Pride and Prejudice” and “A Month in the Country.” Here, the affliction extends well beyond bashful affectation, looking and sounding more like a man drowning in plain air as his face swells and his throat clucks, yet no words come out. Rush’s character, meanwhile, is that most delicious of caricatures, a recklessly bad actor whose shortcomings are embellished by someone who clearly knows better.

On the surface, Rush appears to have the showier of the two parts. But the big scenes are indisputably Firth’s, with two major speeches bookending the film (the latter one being the 1939 radio broadcast with which King George VI addressed a nation entering into war with Germany) and a surprisingly candid confession at roughly the midway point (in which Albert reveals the abusive treatment that likely created his stammer in the first place).

Hooper, who nimbly sidestepped the pitfalls of the generic sports movie in “The Damned United,” proves equally spry in the minefield of blue-blood biopics by using much the same m.o. — focusing on the uncommonly strong bond between two men (the director reunites with Timothy Spall here as a rather comical-looking Winston Churchill). Another repeat collaborator, production designer Eve Stewart, re-creates both royal digs and Logue’s wonderfully disheveled atelier, while Alexandre Desplat’s score gives the film an appropriate gravitas.

• Production: A Weinstein Co. (in U.S.) release presented with U.K. Film Council of a See-Saw Films/Bedlam production in association with Momentum Pictures, Aegis Film Fund, Molinare, FilmNation Entertainment. Produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin. Executive producers, Geoffrey Rush, Tim Smith, Paul Brett, Mark Foligno, Harvey Weinstein, Bon Weinstein. Co-producers, Peter Heslop, Simon Egan. Co-executive producers, Deepak Sikka, Lisbeth Savill, Phil Hope. Directed by Tom Hooper. Screenplay, David Seidler.
• Crew: Camera (color), Danny Cohen; editor, Tariq Anwar; music, Alexandre Desplat; music supervisor, Maggie Rodford; production designer, Eve Stewart; art director, Leon McCarthy; set decorator, Judy Farr; costume designer, Jenny Beavan; sound, John Midgley; re-recording mixer, Paul Hamblin; supervising sound editor, Lee Walpole; special effects supervisor, Mark Holt; visual effects supervisor, Tom Horton; line producer, Peter Heslop; associate producer, Charles Dorfman; assistant director, Martin Harrison; second unit camera, Matt Kenzie; casting, Nina Gold. Reviewed at Aidikoff screening room, Beverly Hills, Sept. 1, 2010. (In Telluride Film Festival; Toronto Film Festival -- Gala Presentations; London Film Festival -- Gala.) Running time: 118 MIN.
• With: King George VI - Colin Firth Lionel Logue - Geoffrey Rush Queen Elizabeth - Helena Bonham Carter King Edward VIII - Guy Pearce Winston Churchill - Timothy Spall Archbishop Cosmo Lang - Derek Jacobi Myrtle Logue - Jennifer Ehle Stanley Baldwin - Anthony Andrews Queen Mary - Claire Bloom Wallis Simpson - Eve Best King George V - Michael Gambon

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The King’s Speech

Content caution.

In Theaters

• November 26, 2010
• Colin Firth as Prince Albert/King George VI); Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue; Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth; Guy Pearce as Prince David/King Edward VIII); Michael Gambon as King George V; Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill; Jennifer Ehle as Myrtle Logue; Derek Jacobi as Archbishop of Canterbury; Anthony Andrews as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin; Eve Best as Wallis Simpson

Home Release Date

• April 19, 2011

Distributor

• The Weinstein Company

Movie Review

Living life without being able to speak easily and fluently is more than just a mere trial. Relaying even the simplest thought is grueling—as well as frustrating and sometimes embarrassing. Well-meaning but patronizing family members offer all manner of useless advice regarding elocution. Speech therapists fill your mouth with marbles and then command you to speak clearly. Telling your children a simple bedtime story is a verbal obstacle course. The thought of standing in front of a microphone summons sheer terror.

And if you are a king, called upon to bolster and unite a fearful nation in the face of war, well, then, the stakes are more than just ease of communication. They are life and death.

His Royal Highness King George VI found himself in this exact position. A stammerer since childhood, no one—least of whom himself—had confidence in his ability to lead the British Empire after his elder brother, David (later King Edward VIII) scandalously abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson.

But before King George VI becomes king, he is “merely” Prince Albert, father of Elizabeth II (the current queen of England) and husband to Elizabeth, the beloved and now deceased queen mother. In 1925, after Albert’s devastatingly awkward public address to the British Empire Exhibition—if stuttering a few syllables can be considered an address—his wife seeks help from an unlikely source: Lionel Logue.

An eccentric, unemployed Australian actor informally trained in elocution, Lionel is unwaveringly confident in his unorthodox treatments for stuttering. He boldly tells Elizabeth that he will treat Albert only on his turf and by his rules. And by demanding total equality with Albert—whom he even calls Bertie, as the prince’s family members do—Lionel introduces the stuffy royal to the common man’s common life.

The two gradually become friends. Their decades-long relationship produces not only a more confident monarch and better speeches for the British Empire, but a deep camaraderie that helps Albert begin to understand himself and the people he’s leading. And Lionel not only helps the repressed future king find his personal voice, he helps him to speak like a monarch who has a right to be heard.

Positive Elements

Lionel and Albert dearly love their respective wives and children, and Elizabeth is steadfast in her commitment to and love for Albert. She is his comforter, champion and friend who never reveals her own subtle doubts that he will overcome his stammer.

Albert is far more politically and morally discerning than David, and takes the royal family’s duties seriously. He scolds David for his poor leadership on more than one occasion. Hardworking Albert is also tireless in performing the speech exercises Lionel suggests. He continually works to better his speech and prepare for possible kingship even when his personal life is in turmoil. And though he may not always understand the people he will govern, he is determined to lead them well.

Lionel encourages Albert to dig deeply into his lonely childhood memories, thus exposing abuses the prince suffered at the hands of indifferent nannies and frosty, Victorian-era parents. Lionel also offers the future king genuine, unaffected friendship—for perhaps the first time in the royal’s life. He compassionately sees Albert as an emotionally broken but valiant man with tremendous potential for greatness. Lionel, in fact, cares for all his “patients” with the same kindness and dedication.

As a result of his harsh childhood and stammering, Albert has lived in fear most of his life. Lionel tells him there’s hope—that he doesn’t have to be afraid of the things that haunted him when he was young—and that he’s a friend who will always listen.

Spiritual Elements

Mostly stock, cultural expressions: Albert’s father, King George V, says “God bless you” during a Christmas speech. Posters are emblazoned with “God save the king.” God is mentioned during a coronation. Albert publicly announces that Great Britain must commit its wartime cause to God.

As head of the Anglican Church, the king of England is not allowed to marry a divorcée—but David does so anyway, raising the eyebrows and ire of many countrymen.

Sexual Content

David and the twice-divorced Wallis scandalize the world with their love affair. (None of their intimacy is shown, and the phrases “expert ministrations” and “certain skills” stand in for frank descriptions of why David is attracted to her.) Albert tells Lionel of a girl whom he and David pursued in their youth, and dialogue subtly implies that both had sex with her on separate occasions.

Wallis wears a dress with a plunging back. Crude language is used for male genitalia and women’s breasts. Couples kiss.

Violent Content

Prone to fits of temper, Albert yells—especially at Lionel—several times. The threat of war (conveyed via newsreels of Hitler’s zeppelins and marching troops) hangs in the air.

Crude or Profane Language

Close to 20 each of f- and s-words. Christ’s name is abused twice, and God’s is misused at least once. The British crudity “bloody” is used more than a dozen times. Another British profanity, “b-gger,” is used about 10. There’s a handful each of the words “d‑‑n,” “b‑‑tard,” “a‑‑” and “h‑‑‑.” Crude slang is used for sexual anatomy (“t-ts,” “pr–k,” “balls” and “willie”).

Drug and Alcohol Content

People smoke cigarettes and cigars. Of note is that while doctors say the smoke is good for vocal cords, Lionel insists it’s toxic. Alcohol is served at a cocktail party as well as at Lionel’s home. Albert asks for liquor, and Lionel offers him a second drink, presumably to loosen up the ultra-formal royal.

Other Negative Elements

Edward VIII (David) and Wallis are sympathetic toward Hitler, whom they admire. And so, deeply concerned British politicians don’t know which way the monarch will lean politically. Their negative perception of him is strengthened by the fact that before and during his brief reign, David is irresponsible in his duties.

Frightened by the prospect of being crowned king and resentful of Lionel’s informality, Albert pulls rank, harshly and arrogantly calling Logue the disappointing “nobody” son of a brewer. Albert’s younger brother Johnny, who died as a youth, was born “different,” and was hidden away from public view as a result. Albert’s nanny is said to have withheld affection and food from him when he was young—and his parents didn’t notice for three years.

How often have we awkwardly looked away from other people’s disabilities, unable to face their agonizing struggle to accomplish what average folks do with ease?

In The King’s Speech , an entire empire looks away from Albert and his excruciating stutter. Yet he speaks to an audience that is just as fearful as he. When the certainty of a dark and vicious war—and its uncertain outcome—overshadows Great Britain, the nation longs for a leader who will competently guide and encourage citizens to victory. And because they’re not certain Albert is up to the task, we feel their agony just as deeply as we feel his when, at times, he labors to utter even a single word.

People are ashamed for him. Embarrassed because of him. And yet they simultaneously have their fingers crossed for him because he is their only hope.

Today we have the comfort of the historical record. We know how the story ends. The actual King George VI did indeed have a stutter (though its severity is debatable), and overcame enough of his oral issues to address his people with only periodic hesitations. But he never fully overcame his impediment, just as the onscreen king doesn’t. Instead, he faced it, tackling his limitations with Lionel’s help and encouragement. Perhaps the fact that Albert is never completely cured is the most inspiring reminder that courage rarely comes in the absence of fear or weakness. Courage is action in the face of these things, and the elder King George says Albert has more bravery than all of his brothers combined. Lionel agrees and helps Albert to see it too. So much so that the once ineffective King George VI becomes a national symbol of pride and wartime resistance during World War II.

This touching, masterfully acted and subtly comedic film could easily have been PG-rated, making its stirring message readily available for teens and families hungry for an inspiring life lesson devoted to clawing one’s way past shortcomings and limitations. Instead, director Tom Hooper opted for a profanity-laden R rating. Several times Albert angrily blurts out long streams of curse words during speech therapy, since the only times he doesn’t stutter are when he sings and when he swears.

Regarding the foul language and its resulting rating, star Colin Firth told The National Post , “This isn’t a non-issue. I get that people don’t want their small children hearing these strong words—I don’t like them. … I don’t want my kids thinking it’s a good way to use language—language is more beautiful than that. It should be more thought about than that. It has more power than that. That’s lazy and ugly—but that’s not the case in this movie. [The foul language usage is] not vicious, it’s not sexual, and it’s not lazy—it’s anything but. These are tools, these forbidden words have become momentary tools to get a guy to break out of extreme repression. Then he immediately gets rather sheepish and apologizes. There couldn’t be a more harmless context. It doesn’t teach your kids to sprinkle your language with these words or direct them against people. I would hate to deny kids in that age bracket, or discourage them from seeing a film which has so much to say to people that age.”

Firth continues, “As far as the rest of public opinion is concerned, certainly in our industry, I’d be kicking in a door. Because everyone seems to be in harmony on the subject.”

While many will see his point, not everyone is in harmony. Context , when it comes to obscenity, is not the end of the discussion for most families. Surely it’s fair to ask why a movie of this caliber must be first edited (by way of an airline, a TV network or a ClearPlay machine) before the very kids Firth wants to see influenced can reasonably encounter it.

A postscript: The Weinstein Company initially sued the MPAA for assigning The King’s Speech an R rating, arguing that, in fact, context was the end of the discussion. “While we respect the MPAA,” said owner Harvey Weinstein, “I think we can all agree that we are living with an outdated ratings system that gives torture porn, horror and ultraviolent films the same rating as films with so-called inappropriate language.”

After the film won Best Picture, among other Oscars, at the 2011 Academy Awards, Weinstein decided to make a few changes to the film’s language, at least enough to secure a PG-13 rating for a a new version. A statement from the studio declared that the new “family-friendly version” was created for “those to whom it speaks most directly—young people who are troubled by stuttering, bullying and similar trials.” The decision was met with instant derision from the film’s star. “I don’t support it,” said Colin Firth, who won a Best Actor award for his role as the king. “I think the film has its integrity as it stands. I’m not someone who’s casual about that kind of language. I take my children to [soccer] games. I hate hearing that kind of language in their ears, but I won’t deny them the experience of a live game. … I still haven’t met the person who’d object to it.”

Be that as it may, the changes, for many moviegoing families, will go unnoticed because the expletives in question haven’t been muted or bleeped, they’ve merely been replaced with other expletives. Specifically, the long series of f-words that the king blurts out is now a long series of s-words. And one full f-word remains intact at the outset of the outburst.

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King's Speech, The (United Kingdom, 2010)

The King's Speech delivers solid drama with a rousing climax - a fully satisfying and uplifting period piece that achieves its dramatic potential without sacrificing historical accuracy. Unless you count Hitler, who is seen from afar, the narrative is villain-free, allowing the focus to be on the internal and interpersonal struggles of the characters - a more rewarding approach than when a bad guy is invented to fill the need for a conventional conflict. Even though it is set against the backdrop of mid-20th century British royalty, there are no barriers to mainstream accessibility. The wealth of acting mined by director Tom Hooper may represent the best ensemble not only of this year but of the last several years. Big and small, there are some astounding performances here.

The film opens in 1925. The man who will become King George VI (Colin Firth) is now merely Prince Albert. His official title is the Duke of York and, because he's the second son of King George V (Michael Gambon), he is not expected to ascend to the throne because that role will fall to his older brother, Prince Edward (Guy Pearce). A life away from the relentless attention of Buckingham Palace is suitable for Albert and his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), who do not desire to be king and queen. And there's another issue: royalty in the age of radio presents a unique challenge for Albert, who is afflicted with a stammer that hampers his ability to speak publically (and, at times, privately). In an attempt to be free of this impediment, he visits Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist known for unorthodox methods. Logue's importance in Albert's life escalates when circumstances conspire to make him the king of England at a time when the storm clouds of World War II are gathering on the horizon.

Although The King's Speech is primarily a drama and can be seen as a buddy movie and an instance of the underdog triumphant, there are plenty of humorous moments. None of the comedy is overdone or out-of-place. One can easily imagine, for example, the amusing awkwardness that would affect a middle-class wife upon discovering the Duchess of York sitting at her modest dining room table. The King's Speech is as positive and life-affirming as any recent movie. Like a sports figure who overcomes incredible odds to score the winning points, King George VI is presented as a man who, through sheer force of will and because of the trust he places in Lionel, is able to surmount the obstacle that blocks his path. Too frequently, we leave movies largely unmoved by the experience; The King's Speech sends viewers home with smiles on their faces and lilts in their hearts.

Rarely have we observed so many fantastic performances in one movie. First and foremost is Colin Firth who may win the Oscar (and, if he doesn't, he should). Perhaps the best way to describe the way Firth inhabits the character is to recall Helen Mirren's astounding turn in The Queen . It's the same sort of thing - a man who sheds his skin and crawls inside that of another so fully that we believe in the character. Geoffrey Rush, with his hangdog face, is the perfect foil for Firth. Rush gives Lionel a false bravado to cover his inner uncertainty about serving such a distinguished client. Beneath the seemingly confident exterior, we see the softer, gentler man. Firth and Rush share strong chemistry, which is critical in any buddy film, irrespective of how offbeat it may be. There's also no shortage of chemistry between Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, whose Elizabeth is a delight. She's sharp-witted and whip-smart but capable of great caring and humanity.

The secondary cast is populated by notable names giving sterling performances. There's Timothy Spall, whose interpretation of Winston Churchill is more than an exercise in mimicry. Derek Jacobi, who played a famous stammerer as the title character in I, Claudius , is the cranky and propriety-conscious Archbishop Lang. The royal family is filled out by Michael Gambon as George V, Claire Bloom as his wife, Queen Mary, and Guy Pearce as Edward, whose infatuation with a twice-divorced American woman creates problems for his reign. Finally, Jennifer Ehle's participation as Lionel's wife allows her an opportunity to be reunited with her Pride and Prejudice co-star, Firth. This is the first time they have shared the screen since that monumental mini-series.

The final scene, which gives the movie its title, represents not only the climax of the story but the moment in which all the elements come together - Firth and Rush's acting; the classical strains of the score; the stark simplicity of the production design (the room in which the speech is given is functional and unadorned). Hooper orchestrates everything with flawless diction in his cinematic language. The microphone looms not merely as an aid to voice amplification and recording, but as an implacable enemy - the faceless foe George VI must defeat by exorcising his own personal demons. It's an amazing moment.

The MPAA, in its infinite wisdom, has chosen to saddle The King's Speech with an R rating, believing there are too many "fucks." Jack Nicholson got away with 2.5 gratuitous "fucks" in How Do You Know, but that inferior picture survived with a PG-13. Admittedly, there are more than 2.5 "fucks" in The King's Speech (as are there in this now R-rated review), but they are anything but gratuitous. They serve a purpose within the context of speech therapy. The MPAA has once again shown its narrow-mindedness. Those "fucks" are the only reason this is R-rated. There's no sex or violence, just one word spoken a few too many times.

The King's Speech is everything a good movie should be. When the two hour running time expires, many will wish there were more minutes to come. With its deceptively complex drama, skillful direction and polished screenplay, and top-notch acting, The King's Speech illustrates by example how disappointingly lacking so many recent would-be dramas have been. This is a deeply human story that touches the heart and inspires the audience not only in relation to the characters and their circumstances but as a reminder that, in the dreary muddle of 2010's mediocrity, a motion picture like this can still make it to theaters.

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Should producer convert R-rated 'The King's Speech' into family fare?

'The King's Speech' was given an R rating solely for the use of profanity in some key scenes. As the producer reportedly considers re-editing the Oscar-nominated movie, the idea is getting poor reviews.

• By Daniel B. Wood Staff writer

January 27, 2011 | Hollywood, Calif.

“I didn’t think I wanted to see an historical drama about a king who stutters,” says Imogene Bartha , the mother of a 13-year-old boy, as she flips through the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times in a local coffee shop. “But now here’s this ad telling me it got more Oscar nominations than any other movie, so I’m inclined to check it out.”

“It” is the highly acclaimed movie “The King’s Speech,” starring Colin Firth , Helena Bonham Carter , and Geoffrey Rush , all of whom were nominated for acting honors . Mr. Firth plays Queen Elizabeth II ’s stuttering father, King George VI , who seeks the assistance of speech therapist Lionel Logue , played by Mr. Rush, on the eve of World War II. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Ms. Bartha’s one dilemma, she says, is presented by her son. Can she see the movie with him? The movie is rated R, which means, says the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), it “may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously.”

IN PICTURES: Oscar Nominees 2011

Now, in an apparent attempt to avoid such dilemmas by potential moviegoers and reach a wider audience, “Speech” producer Harvey Weinstein is reported to be planning to re-edit the film. The movie received an R rating due to two or three short but important scenes in which the king swears repeatedly in an effort to correct his stammer.

“The British numbers are huge because the rating lets families see the movie together,” Weinstein is quoted as saying in the British newspaper The Guardian. Director “Tom [Hooper] and I are trying to find a unique way to do this that keeps his vision of the movie.”

Weinstein, whose “ Shakespeare in Love ” won Best Picture in 1998, is considered to have top-tier marketing and movie instincts. But several critics say the idea of altering this movie is ill-advised. Some are criticizing the MPAA’s rating system for not being nuanced enough. The MPAA responds that its system is merely a guide for parents, nothing more.

New focus on friendship?

“This is a very bad idea indeed. The movie is perfect the way it is,” says Wheeler Winston Dixon, editor of the Quarterly Review of Film and Video at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln . “When you try to recut the best film of 2010, the reason better be for artistic reasons or more enhancement. But this scene is the heart of the movie and is not gratuitous or for shock value. But the simple reason of trying to make more money is unconscionable and is a move that should not be countenanced.”

[ Editor's note: The above quote has been corrected. ]

The Guardian also reports that Weinstein, to attract wider crowds, plans to refocus attention on the friendship between the king and his therapist, with new advertisements.

The original descriptive line was “It takes leadership to confront a nation’s fear. It takes friendship to conquer your own.” Besides touting the film’s 12 Oscar nominations, new taglines will read, “Some things never go out of style: Friendship; Courage; Loyalty.”

“This seems like an odd tactic to me,” says Robert Elder , film columnist and author of “The Film That Changed My Life.” “It’s not like it hasn’t found its audience. I don’t know any 14-year-olds who are clamoring for an historical drama about a king with a stammer. When I go to an R-rated movie, I personally look forward to an audience not filled with teenagers.”

Dixon , Elder, and others point to the fact that many filmmakers manipulate their films prior to release to get a different rating or to deal with criticism. Responding to charges of anti-Semitism, Mel Gibson famously decided to not translate a particular line in 2004’s “ The Passion of the Christ .” Todd Solonz ’s 2001 “Storytelling” put red boxes over explicit sex scenes.

'Archaic rating system'

“I guess they could just bleep out the profanity like they do on cable TV for instance, and it wouldn't be too terrible,” says Picktainment.com ’s Phil Wallace . “Maybe they can do that in some theaters, but not in others.”

But “the real issue is the MPAA and its archaic rating system,” he says. The profanity is “somewhat essential to the story as it’s an honest depiction of individuals with stuttering problems. The swearing is used in the least offensive way of any movie I've seen and hardly deserving of an R-rating. Yet the MPAA continues to give PG-13 ratings to raunchy teen sex comedies which are far more offensive.”

The MPAA is going out of its way to remind moviegoers that the entire purpose of the rating system is to inform parents about content.

“This is not for critics or filmmakers or marketers,” says Elizabeth Kaltman , Los Angeles spokeswoman for the MPAA. “The criticism we hear about this system is generated by clever marketing executives who are trying to get buzz for their movies. It’s important to note that we rarely, if ever, get told by parents that our rating has been too restrictive and the movie should be more accessible to children. The R rating doesn’t ever mean that parents can’t take children to see a movie. All it says is ‘you parents should educated about this before you take children to the theater.’ ”

No one at the MPAA, says Ms. Kaltman, can ever remember a time when a filmmaker has tried to resubmit a film for a different rating after it has already been released. But occasionally, she says, that happens when a film is about to be sold on DVD.

Movie benefits from Oscar buzz

Oscar buzz has already improved the fortunes of “The King’s Speech," says Harry Medved , spokesman for movie ticketing service Fandango.

“For several weeks in a row, ‘ The King's Speech ’ has been slowly but surely appearing among our top five ticket-sellers,” Mr. Medved says. “But on Tuesday it moved up to the top spot as Fandango's top ticket-seller of the day. You wouldn't expect any film with the words ‘King’ or ‘Speech’ in the title to be a true crowd-pleaser, but this little movie continues to pack select theaters across the country, and shows no signs of slowing down.”

Medved notes that according to historical accounts, the king really used the profanity as part of his therapy , and that in the movie “it makes for an amusing sequence.”

“Most informed and discriminating parents will know there’s just a tiny spot of profanity in the movie,” he says, “and they’ll take their older kids to see it regardless of the rating.”

The Weinstein Co. did not respond to several attempts for comment.

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The King’s Speech Review

07 Jan 2011

118 minutes

King’s Speech , The

Some films turn out to be unexpectedly good. Not that you’ve written them off, only they ply their craft on the hush-hush. Before we even took our seats, Inception had trailed a blaze of its cleverness the size of a Parisian arrondissement. We were ready to be dazzled. If you had even heard of it, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech looked no more than well-spoken Merchant Ivoriness optimistically promoted from Sunday teatime: decent cast, nice costumes, posh carpets. That was until the film finished a sneak-peak at a festival in deepest America, and the standing ovations began. Tweeters, bloggers and internet spokespeople of various levels of elocution announced it the Oscar favourite, and this also-ran arrives in our cinemas in a fanfare of trumpets.

But for all its pageantry, it isn’t a film of grandiose pretensions. Much better than that, it is an honest-to-goodness crowdpleaser. Rocky with dysfunctional royalty. Good Will Hunting set amongst the staid pageantry and fussy social mores of the late ’30s. The Odd Couple roaming Buckingham Palace. A film that will play and play. A prequel to The Queen.

Where lies its success? Let’s start with the script, by playwright David Seidler, a model for transforming history into an approachable blend of drama and wit. For a film about being horrendously tongue-tied, Seidler’s words are exquisitely measured, his insight as deep as it is softly spoken. Both an Aussie and a long-suffering stammerer, he first adapted the story as a play, written with the permission of both the late Queen Mother (George’s wife) and Logue’s widow. Stretching into the legroom of film, he loses none of the theatrical richness of allowing decent actors to joust and jostle and feed off each other.

As their two worlds clash, this outspoken “colonial” and this unspoken aristocrat, Seidler mines great humour from the situation. Logue’s outlandish treatments are designed to rock George, whom he insists on calling Bertie (the impertinence!), out of his discomfort zone. He has to lie on the floor, his dainty wife perched upon his chest, strengthening his diaphragm. He has to swing his arms like a chimpanzee, warble like a turkey. And in a sure-to-be classic scene, Logue cracks the dam of his patient’s cornered voice by getting him swearing. “Say the ‘F’ word,” commands Rush, his eyes twinkling at Logue’s front. “Fornication!” howls Firth, like a man bursting. Such naughtiness — escalating to a magnificent chorus of “shits” and “fucks” — landed the film an R rating in America. The silly-billies: the moment couldn’t be more tender or uplifting.

What Hooper sensed of Seidler’s play is that this is not about fixing a voice, but fixing a mind bullied by his father (a waxen-voiced Michael Gambon as George V) and brother since boyhood, a soul imprisoned by the burden of forthcoming kingliness. Between his handsome London backdrops, elevating any potential staginess with sleek forward motion and microscopic historical accuracy (from mist-occluded parks, to the Tardis-sprawl of the BBC’s broadcasting paraphernalia with the death-noose of their microphones), Hooper plays on the idea of childhood. We meet Logue’s scruffy brood and the twee Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret; while in another scene loaded with codified meaning, George begins to open up as he gently completes a model plane. The tragedy is that he never had a childhood. Friendship is a voyage into the unknown for Bertie. Logue is gluing him together.

Hooper, whose own mother recommended the play, knew straightaway here was his cornerstone — the unlikeliest of friendships. To get all zeitgeist on its royal behind, it’s a bromance. One that required two performers to go to opposite places. Colin Firth has found a rich vein of form: A Single Man provided emotional entrapment in repressed grief, but here were greater perils still, treading the perilous high-wire of physical affliction. In terror of mockery or Rainman, he looked to Derek Jacobi’s definitive stammering in I Claudius (Jacobi winkingly cast here as a conniving Archbishop Of Canterbury) and got to grips with an actor’s greatest fear — being unable to find his words. It’s a bristling irony: acting is a craft exemplified in the crystal-clear diction of Shakespeare, but here is a gripping performance where the actor is virtually incapable of speaking at all. Not in a straight line. It is an anti-acting role, yet Firth doesn’t ever stop communicating: pain, sadness, yearning; intelligence and humour demanding escape; and the fierce self-possession of a man born to privilege. When Logue, pushing and pushing, oversteps the mark, Bertie rounds on him, furious, his voice suddenly eloquent in the spate of his fury. The idea of class is never far away; what marks out one’s place in the social network of yesteryear more than how one speaks?

Logue, a psychotherapist before his time (a royal in therapy — the very thought!), finds Rush in equally fine fettle. He locates Logue’s own shortcomings, a failed actor who turns his office into a stage, striding and pontificating, a show-off with a big heart. A modernist trying to break through social prejudice. A colonial nobody desperate to be an English somebody. Stripped walls line Logue’s drafty chambers: the deprivations of pre-War Britain are here, yet warmed by family. The cushioned train of anterooms of Buckingham Palace appear antiseptic in comparison. Life crushed by velvet. Grimacing Whitehall serving as a cold reminder of war to come.

Any behind-the-drapes depictions of British royalty carry the base pleasures of a good snoop. But these were changing times. Helena Bonham Carter makes for a vibrant Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mum-to-be), both devoted wife and teasing wit whirling around the word “contraverseeal” like a figure skater, another modernist in a dusty enclave who takes the risk of contacting Logue. If anything, older brother Edward VIII was the true trailblazer, breaking through the bars of royal absolutes to marry American divorcee Mrs. Simpson, and unthinkably vacate the throne for his timorous brother. In that decision, precedents were shattered and the modern world spilled into the royal household. Guy Pearce (an Aussie in English robes) has enormous fun as the arrogant older sibling, plumbing his voice to the borders of camp, but a flash harry flinty enough to shed a nation for a wife. As George will angrily point out, what use does a king serve anymore?

If we start small, a lonely prince trying to express himself, we end big. History knocks the door down. Edward abdicates just as that unquenchable ranter Hitler gets warmed up, and Timothy Spall drops by as a slippery Churchill (a jar to the film’s subtleties) to sneer about oncoming “Nazzzeees”. A sense of terrible urgency engulfs the therapy, but what an ending it offers. George VI must use his faltering voice to soothe a frightened nation in a radio broadcast, all but conducted by Logue, transformed into match-winning glory. You’ll be lost for words.

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R rating shocks ‘King’s Speech’ filmmaker

“The King’s Speech,” a British film being touted as a leading contender for the best picture Oscar, is a delightful, heartwarming account of how a cheeky Australian speech therapist helped King George VI conquer a terrible stammer.

“Saw 3D” is the seventh installment in the torture-porn horror film series.

Yet according to the Motion Picture Association of America’s ratings system, both films are rated R – meaning no one under 17 allowed without a parent.

“Saw 3D,” which hit theaters last week, earned the designation for innumerable scenes of violence, torture and depravity.

“The King’s Speech,” which will be released at Thanksgiving, got it for one brief scene where the future king of England, encouraged by his therapist, utters a volley of swear words to cure his stutter.

Director Tom Hooper was appalled when he learned “The King’s Speech” had earned an R rating.

“What really upsets me is that the boundaries for violence have been pushed farther and farther back while any kind of bad language remains taboo,” he says.

“I’m a filmgoer as well as a filmmaker, and I know what it’s like to see something disturbing that puts an image into your head that you can’t get rid of. I felt that way in ‘Salt,’ when Angelina Jolie had a tube forced down her throat against her will to simulate drowning, and I felt the same way in ‘Quantum of Solace’ where Daniel Craig’s (testicles) are smashed in through a chair with no bottom.”

Yet the ratings board deemed those films PG-13 while giving “The King’s Speech” an R.

“What I take away from that decision,” says Hooper, “is that violence and torture is OK, but bad language isn’t. I can’t think of a single film I’ve ever seen where the swear words had haunted me forever, the way a scene of violence or torture has, yet the ratings board only worries about the bad language.”

The British Board of Film Classification initially gave “The King’s Speech” a 15 certificate, prohibiting kids under that age from seeing it.

But the board recently reconsidered and changed its rating to a 12A – England’s equivalent of a PG-13 – saying that the swearing was allowed because it was “not aggressive and not directed at any person.”

Joan Graves, who heads the MPAA’s rating board (officially known as the Classification and Rating Administration), argues against making an exception for “The King’s Speech.”

“We’ve made clear what our language guidelines are, and it’s not fair, in fact it would look arbitrary, if we threw it out for just one film,” she says.

From prenatal care to pediatrics, Providence is creating a healthier future for families

Like many expectant mothers, Miranda Kekauoha had a plan.

To the MPAA ratings board, ‘The King’s Speech’ is just as bad as ‘Saw 3D’

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“The King’s Speech,” a British film being touted as a leading contender for the best picture Oscar, is a delightful, heart-warming account of how a cheeky Australian speech therapist helped King George VI conquer a terrible stammer.

“Saw 3D” is the seventh installment in the torture-porn horror film series, which as the Orlando Sentinel’s Roger Moore described it , has grown more and more gruesome, “with the filmmakers caught up in ‘What would it look like if somebody’s jaw was ripped out, or their skin was glued to a car seat?’”

If you’re a parent, as I am, which film would you want your 12-year-old to see? No contest, right? Yet according to the Motion Picture Assn. of America’s crackpot ratings system, both films are rated R — meaning no one under 17 allowed without a parent.

“Saw 3D,” which hit theaters last week, earned the designation for innumerable scenes of violence, torture and depravity; “The King’s Speech,” which will be released at Thanksgiving, got it for one brief scene where the future king of England, encouraged by his therapist, utters a volley of swear words to cure his stutter.

To call the decision crazy and unhinged would be to let the MPAA off too lightly. Its ratings decisions, which frown on almost any sort of sex, frontal nudity or bad language but have allowed increasing amounts of violence over the years, are horribly out of touch with mainstream America, where families everywhere are disturbed by the amount of violence freely portrayed in movies, video games and hip-hop music.

“The King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper was appalled when he learned his film had earned an R rating.

“What really upsets me is that the boundaries for violence have been pushed farther and farther back while any kind of bad language remains taboo,” he told me Sunday. “I’m a filmgoer as well as a filmmaker, and I know what it’s like to see something disturbing that puts an image into your head that you can’t get rid of. I felt that way in ‘Salt,’ when Angelina Jolie had a tube forced down her throat against her will to simulate drowning, and I felt the same way in ‘Quantum of Solace’ where Daniel Craig’s [testicles] are smashed in through a chair with no bottom.”

Yet the ratings board deemed those films PG-13 while giving “The King’s Speech” an R. “What I take away from that decision,” says Hooper, “is that violence and torture is OK, but bad language isn’t. I can’t think of a single film I’ve ever seen where the swear words had haunted me forever, the way a scene of violence or torture has, yet the ratings board only worries about the bad language.”

The MPAA’s decision to give “The King’s Speech” an R looks even worse after what happened recently in England. The British Board of Film Classification, the country’s movie ratings group, had initially given “The King’s Speech” a 15 certificate, prohibiting kids under that age from seeing it. But the board recently reconsidered and changed its rating to a 12A, giving it England’s equivalent of a PG-13.

Most importantly, the British ratings board recognized what the MPAA has always blindly ignored — the context of the language, saying in its ruling that the swearing was allowed because it was “not aggressive and not directed at any person.”

What does the MPAA say in its defense?

Joan Graves, who heads the MPAA’s rating board (officially known as the Classification and Rating Administration), argues against making an exception for “The King’s Speech.” “We’ve made clear what our language guidelines are, and it’s not fair, in fact it would look arbitrary, if we threw it out for just one film.”

However, the biggest problem with the MPAA standards about bad language is that they are demonstrably different from the standards imposed on violence or torture. The ratings board is specific — if a film uses more than one f-word, or uses it in any sexual context, the film is given an R rating.

But instead of applying a similar specific standard to violence, for example, giving an R to a film with more than one instance of a person being shot in the head or having their fingers chopped off, the ratings board judges violence on a far more amorphous and clearly subjective sense of overall tone. That discrepancy sets up the MPAA for all sorts of criticism, much of which has come from Nell Minow, a corporate governance expert whose must-read Movie Mom blog has frequently taken the MPAA to task for its inconsistencies.

“The ratings decision on ‘The King’s Speech’ is just another example of how completely out of touch and useless the guidance is that we get from the MPAA,” Minow told me Monday. “The one thing we want from them is a general sense of where a movie fits into our family values. But by putting ‘The King’s Speech’ in the same ratings category as ‘Kill Bill’ or ‘Scarface’ or ‘Saw,’ then it really makes a mockery of the whole system.”

Graves disagrees. “I know it’s a source of great frustration for people who would like to have more rules, but we’re trying to give parents a snapshot of what’s in a film, not more rules. It’s just a lot easier to quantify language than it is violence.” Still, even Graves doesn’t dispute the fact that the board has allowed more violence and torture to creep into PG-13 movies over the last two decades while its arbitrary rule about language has remained exactly the same.

“Our perception is that parents still feel the same way about bad language, especially in areas like the Midwest and the South, where they often have a problem with God, as in goddamnit. On the coasts, perhaps because they have more urban centers, they’re more concerned with violence.”

Still, even Graves admits that the MPAA has occasionally been too lax with violence. When I brought up the example of Craig being tortured in the Bond film, which got a PG-13, she responded: “I have to admit that we got a lot of comment about that scene. If we had to do it all over again, we would’ve handled it differently. We’re not infallible.”

No one expects the ratings board to be infallible. But if the MPAA is going to be subjective about how it views violence, allowing some scenes of torture but not others, then why on earth can’t it be subjective about language as well? In “The King’s Speech,” the swear words are clearly used in a context of helping a man overcome his stammer; they don’t signify anything remotely aggressive or sexual. It deserves a break from the MPAA, which shouldn’t be in the business of making it more difficult for kids to see an inspirational film about overcoming adversity.

I couldn’t say it any better than Hooper, who makes the point this way: “This isn’t creating a precedent, since after all, how many films can claim to use swearing for its therapeutic effect? The floodgates aren’t going to open. But when you have a system that gives the same rating to ‘Kick Ass’ and ‘Saw’ as ‘The King’s Speech,’ it feels like you’re in a world that has lost its mooring.”

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Movie Review: The King’s Speech (2010)

• Mariusz Zubrowski
• Movie Reviews
• 2 responses
• --> December 27, 2010

One of the requirements to holding any kind of public office is a sharp tongue. That being said, a king with a speech impediment is simply coated with irony; it sounds like a great political satire. However, director Tom Hopper ( The Damned United ), alongside screenwriter David Seidler ( Malice in Wonderland (the 1985 T.V. movie, not the Snoop Dogg album, just to be clear) and Tucker: The Man and His Dream ) have taken a more historical (and thus realistic) route, tapping into the criminally underappreciated story of King George VI. The King’s Speech chronicles the hijinks and hoopla surrounding the king of Britain, Albert Frederick Arthur ‘Bertie’ George (or as he’d refer to himself, Ge-Ge-Ge-orge), a real-life “stutterbug” who inherited the throne from his brother, Edward VIII, when he relinquished the crown in order to marry an American socialite. In the film, Colin Firth plays the famous ruler with Geoffrey Rush rounding out the cast as Lionel Louge, George’s personal speech therapist who becomes the center of a much unexpected friendship. Although The King’s Speech does tackle the controversies surrounding the royal family, as well as the uprising of Hitler’s campaign, it remains more of a personal story — a tale of companionship and acceptance that though rather predictable, is also very well-done.

From the film’s very first scene, the humiliation is present in Firth’s character — made explicitly clear by the actor’s mannerisms. For George, a crowd of supporters and a microphone are far scarier than any political figurehead. Sometimes his condition, a life-changing impediment that almost completely shrouds his intellect, is presented humorously — poking fun at Hitler’s talent in public speaking — whereas in others, it is handled carefully — never bordering on being derogatory. But regardless of what context Seidler sculpts the character in, Firth gives a heavy-handed role that is sure to land him an Oscar nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards (making this year’s ceremony a real clash of the titans, with Firth, Jeff Bridges, and Ryan Gosling expected to garner nods).

However, a majority of the film’s likability is because of Firth’s chemistry with Rush, George’s unorthodox counterpart. Although they do not consider themselves equals in the first few moments of their relationship, the bond between them gradually blossoms. It eventually becomes a beautiful partnership — one that can overcome any obstacle, and it is this that stops George from becoming a one-note, heartless king, allowing him to become shockingly human. Adding to the effect is the versatile Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth, whose role in George’s characterization is key — without Elizabeth, who George treats with the utmost of respect, his relationship with Lionel, which begins tumultuously, would have been tainted. Audience members, who watch as George throws tantrums and verbally abuse Louge, would have associated George as nothing more than a dignified brute, but because of Carter’s character, who is employed with immaculate precision, George’s motives are clear — he’s just insecure.

It’s just a shame that Seidler is forced to separate the characters in order to move the plot along. When apart, The King’s Speech is at its weakest — being left wide open to uneeded superfluities which caused me to lose focus and interest (you may think otherwise, if you’re into the entire political scheme of things).

Fortunately, the majority of the film isn’t about politics, instead succeeding because of its very touching human component. And thanks to the chemistry between the film’s leading actors, The King’s Speech goes past being just a good film to being a gr-gr-gr-gr-eat film.

Eventually I'll put something nifty here. Until then, know that I'm watching you. Closely.

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'Movie Review: The King’s Speech (2010)' have 2 comments

January 25, 2011 @ 10:34 am Fowler

12 Oscar nominations! It is a good movie, but that good?

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January 25, 2011 @ 6:45 pm Mariusz Zubrowski

The Academy loves these buddy-buddy tales of triumphant. But some of the nominations are pushing it.

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Why Does "The King’s Speech" Have an R Rating?

January 19, 2011 by Nancy Piccione

Have you seen “The King’s Speech” yet?  The small independent film is getting lots of awards and nominations–Colin Firth won a Golden Globe for best actor, the film earned 14 nominations by the BAFTA , the British equivilent of the Oscars.  Next week when the Oscar nominations are announced, I won’t be surprised to see this wonderful film getting quite a few nominations.

“The King’s Speech” is based on the true story of Prince Albert, who struggled with stuttering during his life, and is helped by speech therapist & actor Lionel Logue.  When his older brother Edward abdicates the throne so that he can marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, Albert becomes King George VI and is able to rise to the task of leading the nation during WWII in the age of radio and newsreels.

My husband and I saw the movie last weekend and we loved it; we found it beautifully made and acted.  Since I’m a confirmed Janeite, I was quick to spot a little interesting casting:  the wife of Lionel Logue is played by Jennifer Ehle, who was Lizzie Bennet opposite Colin Firth’s Darcy in the BBC miniseries of “Pride & Prejudice” that made Firth a star back in the 1990s.

But we were completely perplexed as to why the film received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America .   There is one short scene in which the speech therapist encourages fluency by having the prince say swear words repeatedly.  Indeed, as the   Plugged In Online review  reports, “The Weinstein Company sued the MPAA for assigning The King’s Speech an R rating, … ‘While we respect the MPAA,’ said owner Harvey Weinstein, ‘I think we can all agree that we are living with an outdated ratings system that gives torture porn, horror and ultraviolent films the same rating as films with so-called inappropriate language.'”

I not only agree with that statement– I would go farther.  More than a few PG-13 movies have all those elements and are much more inappropriate for younger viewers overall than any moment in this “R” film.  I’ll be taking my 13-year-old daughter to see “The King’s Speech” this weekend, and we wouldn’t mind our younger children seeing it when it’s on Netflix (though we might fast-forward through the one scene of swearing so as not to inspire any 7-year-old copycats, not that that’s likely given the context).  I highly recommend it as enjoyably instructive about the WWII time period, with good things to say about friendship, family and doing the right thing, not just through those who do the right thing, but through those who don’t, like King Edward VIII.   Peggy Noonan has an excellent column describing some of the good elements about the film and people acting like grown-ups.

I’m so perplexed and angered by this rating for “The King’s Speech” that I want to open a discussion:  why do films get the ratings they do?  How do you screen movies for your family?   What do you think about the movie rating system, and would you propose anything different?

Our favorite site for this is  Plugged In Online –they review all sorts of media, not just films.  The reviews are exhaustive in content, so we know what to expect, but also considered is artistic quality and age-appropriateness.  The reviews even warn about plot spoilers so you don’t have to read ahead if you don’t want to.

Finally, the website for “The King’s Speech”  has an excellent trailer that tells the story of the film, that I can’t seem to embed here, and a link to the actual speech given by King George VI, that I can:

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"The King's Speech": That R rating is ridiculous

• Updated: Jan. 26, 2011, 3:34 a.m. |
• Published: Jan. 26, 2011, 2:34 a.m.
• Steve Duin | For The Oregonian/OregonLive

"The King's Speech" -- which received 12 Oscar nominations Tuesday -- is compelling, inspirational ... and painfully "over-rated." As Ben Fritz of The Los Angeles Times notes, executive producer and distributor Harvey Weinstein is considering "re-editing the movie to excise coarse language and secure a lower rating that will open 'The King's Speech' to a broader audience." The coarse language in question?  About three dozen repetitions of two barnyard epithets that Colin Firth uses to express his frustration that barnyard epithets don't roll easily off his royal tongue. Said cussing -- among the most inoffensive uses of the words I've ever heard -- tagged the film with an "R" rating, rather than the family-friendly "PG-13." I understand the reaction to those words when they are used to inflict pain.  But when they are employed to express the daunting anguish of a man who is crushed that words so often fail him, the words are non-threatening and undeserving of this mislabeling by the Motion Picture Association of America.  

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The King's Speech is given a 12A rating

Bad language when used therapeutically by the royal family is not that awful, the British Board of Film Classification decided today as it abruptly downgraded its classification for a movie depicting George VI's battle with his stammer.

The King's Speech, a funny and moving film that tells the story of the monarch's vocal difficulties, had been given a 15 rating, much to the annoyance of its director.

The film has its UK premiere at the London Film Festival tonight and its actors and directors spoke of their bafflement at the rating, given because of a comic scene in which the then Duke of York is encouraged to swear as part of his speech therapy.

The film's director, Tom Hooper , best known for Longford on TV and movie The Damned United, said he could not understand the logic.

"My head is in my hands about it," he told a press conference after the first British screening. "I go to see Salt, where a tube is forced down Angelina Jolie's throat and then water is poured down her throat to simulate drowning, that's not a problem. The last Bond film, when Daniel Craig's bollocks are smashed in through a chair with no bottom and then there's another torture scene. These are scenes that are still in my head which I don't want in my head, they're troubling me and I'm my age."

Stung by the comments, the BBFC later announced that its classification decision had been given "careful consideration" by its president and director. The board took the view it would be suitable for the less restrictive 12A rating. The BBFC added: "The public would understand why the board has reached this decision."

Colin Firth, who plays the reluctant king, said the context of the words was everything – that they were not being used in a sexual way or to insult or describe anyone. "It would be very interesting to know who the people are who would complain about that stuff ahead of violence."

Firth said he had done a lot of research into stammering for the role. "This the third time I've played somebody with a stammer and what's interesting is you don't just pull your stammer from a drawer and that was an education for me because I thought perhaps you could.

"What you're really playing is not stammering, because that's what the person is going through."

The King's Speech, part-funded by the now scrapped UK Film Council, is based on real events that have, necessarily, been imagined. Hooper said: "Everyone knows that the Royal Family's ability to control the flow of information from the palace is formidable." The most valuable source were diaries written by Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush , the speech therapist who treated the king.

The film, which won the audience award at the Toronto film festival earlier this year, will be on general release in the UK in January.

• The King's Speech
• Colin Firth
• London film festival
• Geoffrey Rush

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