The King's Speech (Hooper, 2010)

[Rishi]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/-aS4hoOSlzo&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/-aS4hoOSlzo&rel=1</a>

Seems promising, Hooper, fresh after last year's excellent "The Damned United" and Firth seems out to make up for last year's Oscar loss.

[shariqq]

What a fantastic movie, and what an excellent performance, In fact, what an excellent ensemble performance! Colin Firth carves his greatness as an actor with portrayal of King George VI aka the Reluctant King. Geoffery Rush's supporting role as the speech therapist  is also excellent, and the scenes of these two men together make for the best moments of the film.

4/5

More later, hopefully.

p.s.: That's my 3rd straight 4/5 film in the cinemas. This year is turning out to be good after all!

[ayaa1977]

What a fantastic movie, and what an excellent performance, In fact, what an excellent ensemble performance! Colin Firth carves his greatness as an actor with portrayal of King George VI aka the Reluctant King. Geoffery Rush's supporting role as the speech therapist  is also excellent, and the scenes of these two men together make for the best moments of the film.

4/5

More later, hopefully.

p.s.: That's my 3rd straight 4/5 film in the cinemas. This year is turning out to be good after all!

You fucking assholes!!!!!! I mean you lucky fucking assholes.

[fizz]

What a fantastic movie, and what an excellent performance, In fact, what an excellent ensemble performance! Colin Firth carves his greatness as an actor with portrayal of King George VI aka the Reluctant King. Geoffery Rush's supporting role as the speech therapist  is also excellent, and the scenes of these two men together make for the best moments of the film.

4/5

More later, hopefully.

p.s.: That's my 3rd straight 4/5 film in the cinemas. This year is turning out to be good after all!

You fucking assholes!!!!!! I mean you lucky fucking assholes.

Don't get cursing so soon. Just got the rest of the films lined up for press screenings and none of them interest me personally (none of the other galas, just mostly Arabic stuff). This is quite a departure from previous years.

[ayaa1977]

About the public screening on Sunday, how does that work? I mean I have never been to an open air or drive in cinema before, so I don't know how to make of it? I have heard but good things about this film and I am really curious and would be great to see it.

[fizz]

Go and find out...you have nothing to lose. (I vouch for it and have attended twice, though those were not free for the public).

[fizz]

If we learn anything from viewing The King’s Speech it’s the affirmation that even the privileged have weaknesses. Based on the true story of King George the sixth (father of present day British monarch, Elizabeth the second) and his trouble with speech impediment, the film is an inspiring, entertaining, feel good, crowd pleaser, one that’s actually very good and sustained in no small part by two performances that enthrall.

Colin Firth plays the eponymous King with such believable discomfort that watching him we are convinced that to be born into royalty isn’t always an advantage. Thrust into the public eye by a domineering father (King George the fifth, played by Michael Gambon and his commanding voice) ‘Bertie’, as he is affectionately known by those close to him, stammers and stutters while trying to muster up the courage to deliver kingly speeches at public gatherings and radio broadcasts. With careful persuasion by his ever loyal wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter in a sublime role) he agrees to meet Lionel Logue (Geoffery Rush), yet another speech therapist, whose unorthodox methods hold promise of providing some cure.

Though third in line to the throne, Bertie is reluctantly thrust into the role of the King when his brother Edward (Guy Pearce) abdicates to marry an American divorcee, after the death of their father. The film is about all of these events, but it’s less a historical representation of these facts than it is about the friendship of the two people at the centre of the unfolding drama – Bertie and his speech therapist. Though Lionel is one of the king’s subjects, in his professional capacity he is also the king’s doctor, and their relationship transcends the norms of any expected formality. Colin Firth has probably never been better. Always a man with a formidable screen presence, seeing him reduced to a nervous wreck at the sight of a microphone, the adversary he yearns to conquer, is quite priceless. His performance, a grand, eloquent, physical and verbal tour de force, is certain to win him a nomination with the Academy, if not the top prize. This entire buzz, entirely deserved though it maybe, has however robbed Rush of his equally praiseworthy role. Without him, the film would be empty. He fills each scene with a likable, charming, self effacing wit that convinces us that a king could actually listen to him and learn from it.

The film makes some rather expected detours into subplots that reinforce our notion about the power of words and the necessity of being able to communicate to lead, but these really hit home when juxtaposed with the impending outbreak of World War 2. Director Tom Hooper, who also helmed The Damned United, continues to excel with a theme he has chosen to perfect – dissecting the lives of those who live in the public eye.

Rating: 4/5

[animatedude]

what's the closest thing to it? i don't think there has been so much buzz about a period film like this since Master & Commander and the Gladiator days..

[fizz]

I've heard it being compared to The Queen but I can't validate that since I've not seen it. To me, its is a bit like a royal version of Good Will Hunting (I mean this in a very positive sense) and the film is littered with clever dialogs and witty come backs.

[animatedude]

whaat? you haven't watched THE QUEEN? how dare you?

[shariqq]

The King’s Speech
Tom Hooper | UK | 2010
118 min

In The King’s Speech, Colin Firth plays King George VI with a speech impediment in this historical yet personal drama about one man’s struggle with his weakness. From being the King’s son, then brother to the next king, and eventually reluctant king himself, the movie explores King George VI’s relationship and eventual friendship with his speech therapist that lead him to conquer his disability. In one of the most refined performances of the year, Firth plays the stammering monarch with such finesse that it is not too far-fetched to wager on his winning the coveted Oscar for his leading role. Lending him able support are Helena Bonham Carter as his wife and, in an excellent performance, Geoffrey Rush as the King’s speech therapist. Without letting the grandeur of royalty and impending war crowd the screen, the story stays mostly with these three characters, with occasional foray into their families and other historical figures of the time (Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill is priceless!). The King’s Speech is a must watch, not the least for its powerful central performance.

My rating --> 4 of 5

[animatedude]

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/-king-s-speech-gets-300-oscar-boost-at-uae-box-office-385788.html

British film ‘The King’s Speech’ has seen UAE ticket sales soar 300 percent after its Oscar win, but is still lagging Hollywood blockbuster ‘Big Mamma’s House 3’, film promoters have said.

  lol

[madali]

The King's Speech (Tom Hooper, 2011)

The only way I can explain "The King's Speech" victory for the Oscars is America's hard-on for British royalty. Remember how much acclaim "The Queen" got? USA has almost everything, but they never had royalty, and it seems to sometimes give them a feeling like they lack something, even if they don't admit it themselves. They created royalty out of their sports and film stars, but it is not the same thing.

So, no wonder, they are fascinated by British royalty, and royalty wedding is as much of a TV event in America as it is in Britain. But "King Speech" doesn't feel that much like royalty. Even though it is set just before World War 2 and even though, there is an interesting tale of one younger brother replacing an older brother as a King, it does not have much political intrigue. The royalty hardly feels royal. King George, as a Prince and later as a King, just feels like a gentle, mild-mannered middle aged British man. At its most basic, the film is about one man's stammering and an unconventional speech therapist trying to help him, and the friendship that develops between them.

I don't mind ignoring much of the political dramas in the film, but I felt a bit bored by reducing King George VI as just a normal block. His speech therapist is very informal with him, and at times downright rude, and by reducing relationship of a King and a Commoner to modern day equals, that the viewers feel more comfortable with, it reduces the novelty of the situation. Being a King acting Kingish, then it's a stuttering guy seeing his speech therapist. That's not very grand, not grand at all.

3/5