The King's Speech

Film makers are working their way slowly through all the members of the British Royal family. We now look at some recent events with King George VI.

These days we are constantly bombarded with stories in the tabloids about the Royal Family. Writers of these publications make up stories about what is happening in their lives based on little bits of information they can gather from sources who work behind the scenes. That is sort of the case here with films but it is done in a more credible way. The story of Prince Albert's stutter is an amazing one of a man who trying to live a low key life (as low key as he can being a member of the Royal Family) but through various circumstances gets thrust into the spotlight. He had a hard time meeting the expectations of his father and so developed a stutter. It took an unassuming Aussie to help him out. I was constantly thinking throughout the film about how a member of the Royal Family would cope today if they had an affliction like this. Luckily for Bertie the media was only in its infancy and so he was scrutinised as he would have today. There is a scene where Elizabeth (the Queen Mum) is searching for Lionel's office and you can't imagine that happening today without a team of photographers following her. David Seidler has definitely written a very clever script. It is full of some great dialogue and the story uses the events to craft a wonderful plot.

The real star of this film is the cast. This is the type of film that lets that lets the actors really show their skills. It would have to be one of the best cast films in a long time. Colin Firth is really choosing some great roles for himself lately. It would have been incredibly difficult to speak with a stutter that makes it seem real and not a joke. Which is why he will no doubt win the Oscar this year. We all know how brilliant Geoffrey Rush is and this film just confirms it. He brings the wonderful Aussie spirit to his character that makes him so relatable. Helena Bonham Carter has been playing so many crazy characters lately that it is nice to see her playing someone more refined and sensible. She is a lot more subdued than we're used to which kind of makes her stand out more.

Not only a wonderfully uplifting story but some of the best pieces of acting we've seen lately. Sure to rack up lots of awards in the coming months.