Friday, February 18, 2011

The King's Speech - Movie Review

The King's Speech is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler.The film opens with The Prince Albert, Duke of York (played by Colin Firth), the second son of King George V, speaking at the close of the 1925 Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, with his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) by his side. His stammering speech visibly unsettles the thousands of listeners in the audience. The prince tries several unsuccessful treatments and gives up, until the Duchess persuades him to see Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian speech therapist in London. In their first session, Logue requests that they address each other by their Christian names, a breach of royal etiquette. He convinces Albert to read Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, while listening to the overture from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro on headphones. Logue records Albert's reading, but convinced that he has stammered throughout, Albert leaves in a huff. Logue offers him the recording as a keepsake.



















The King's Speech