It might seem difficult to believe for die-hard fans of the British Royal Family, but King's Speech tells a true story of the Duke of York's speech impediment, or stammer to be precise, which he manages to overcome for good mere hours before his historic war speech as the newly enthroned George VI.
Set in trying times for Britain and for the British monarchy, the film cleverly foregrounds the future king's shameful personal imperfection at the expense of other themes. With the threat from Hitler's Germany looming large and the constitutional crisis over Edward VIII's marriage with Wallis Simpson culminating in his abdication in 1936, it is this unusual vantage point that makes King's Speech such a joy to watch. It certainly helps to open it up, to a degree, to some comic quality, as the hapless duke, played by Colin Firth, is teased and mocked by his last-resort speech therapist, a spirited Australian impeccably portrayed by Geoffrey Rush.
It's a story of an unlikely friendship between "a nobody", as the future king once calls his saviour in a fit of rage, and a disciplined, prim-and-proper heir to the British throne. Both of them bruised by life in their own ways - one a failed thespian turned speech disorders specialist, the other a self-doubting royal, they scramble out of their predicaments as their relationship takes hold. In a stellar happy end, it manages to heal much more than just stammer.
. to wear history lightly
. entertainment of pop-historical type
. something to read in the Guardian here
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