Fridae

Sure as clockwork, each year’s Oscar bait season will see the Brits try to show their cousins across the pond a thing or two about acting, and this year is no different. Marshaling a cast of talents stretching across the firmaments of Her Majesty’s Skies and Dominions, The King’s Speech presents a fine, old-fashioned well told tale about one of the unlikeliest men to ever Rule Britannia: King George VI.

The son of King George V (Michael Gambon) and father to the current monarch (who appears in the film as a little girl), King George VI (Colin Firth) had a bad stammer and was deemed unfit for the throne, in contrast to his more charismatic brother, Edward VII (Guy Pearce). To deal with his stammer, George VI aka Prince Albert aka “Bertie” consults speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), who offers him unorthodox elocution lessons that gradually uncover the source of his stammer and slowly reveal George V’s reserves of courage and character, putting him in good stead through the darkest days of World War 2 with the very fate of Western civilization hanging in the balance.

Yet out of the stuffy subject matter, director Tom Hooper (whose TV miniseries John Adams this reviewer is a huge fan of) and writer David Seidler make history come to life by putting a deeply human angle on this royal story, aided by the terrific cast. Colin Firth brings to the role of King George VI a deep sense of decency and honour, and his very human portrayal of a man all along deemed the family black sheep and failure. How he gains, slowly but surely, the confidence to bring hope to his nation, makes the story believable and inspirational without ever sinking into something that Anthony Robbins or the Chicken Soup for the Soul guys would relate. Also shining just as much is Geoffrey Rush as Logue, an Australian (just as Rush is) who is in fact a failed actor from Perth (which is much funnier if you’re familiar with Perth or have been there), who in spite of his lack of credentials as a therapist makes up for it with a strong sense of conviction and friendship with his King. These two actors make you believe in their firm sense of goodness and really, what could be a harder task to accomplish onscreen?

Followers of British cinema and BBC serials will be greeted by many familiar faces, including Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth to Firth’s Darcy in the BBC Pride and Prejudice) as Logue’s wife, and veteran character actor Timothy Spall hamming it up as Churchill, seemingly mastered the art of jowliness (or having gone on a high-calorie diet to add pounds to his bulky frame even before filming). And again, British cinema proves once again the alluring staying power of British culture even in the waning days of American power. Name me another superpower, now or then, that has ever shown such an uncanny largeness of spirit in its willingness to portray its rulers in such a funny, humane, sweet and tragic light, and rather than ever choosing to recapture its greatness, chooses to instead recall, remember and pass on its finest achievements?

A very royal, yet deeply human story, The King’s Speech shows why Britannia still rules.