The King's Speech

I had wanted to see The King's Speech ever since it came out in cinemas, and after seeing it I was so glad I did. Was it over-hyped? Perhaps a tad, but you can say that for any of the movies that were nominated for Best Picture. Also, I had no problem whatsoever with its Best Picture win, as along with Social Network and a couple of other movies The King's Speech in my opinion was one of the stronger films of the year. Many people on here have raved about it being well made, well acted and very moving. I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. I respectfully disagree with those who say it is this year's Shakespeare in Love(an unfair comparison in the first place, besides Shakespeare in Love I think gets too much hate on here) or the worst Best Picture winner since Crash(that's The Hurt Locker, The King's Speech is one of the better ones). As I have said, The King's Speech is one of my favourites of 2010. One of the main reasons why it is so is the emotional impact this film has. Although the subject matter mayn't appeal to some, I think The King's Speech has a very moving, inspiring and personal story. Thanks to some of the writing and music especially, there are a number of very poignant scenes and little things. Not just the build up to the finale, which was an example of direction at its finest, but also the penguin story which was funny, touching and adorable all at once. I wish to say out of all the movies released last year, only Toy Story 3 and Another Year came close to how deeply moving and touching The King's Speech was. The script is very well-written. It is one that is full of intelligent dialogue, and also the dialogue has its amusing, thoughtful and very poignant moments. Examples are any exchange between Bertie and Lionel and of course the very stirring scene with the speech. Although some mayn't agree with me, I loved the score. Alexandre Desplat's score is one that is sensitive and positively hypnotic. It wasn't just the score though, the use of Beethoven's 7th Symphony and Emperor Concerto also gave the scenes they featured in plenty of emotion. The King's Speech is a very well-made film also. There may be those who argue the production values are reminiscent of that of a TV movie, if so in my mind it is reminiscent of a TV movie with good production values. The lighting wasn't dull and the scenery and sets are lavish and evoke the period beautifully, almost like seeing the best of a beautifully-made Agatha Christie adaptation for instance. The production values are captured wonderfully by the skillful cinematography, with the powerful end shot of Lionel especially resonating. Tom Hooper's direction is very fine, not too low-key but never self-indulgent, the aforementioned build up to the finale shows this perfectly, and the film while elegiac is paced wonderfully. The acting is one of The King's Speech's strengths. Colin Firth is just fantastic in the lead and delivers enough poignancy and pathos to make us empathise with him. Geoffrey Rush matches him perfectly by being amusing without being over-the-top and sympathetic without being manipulative. Helena Bonham Carter while perhaps underused in comparison also makes an impression in an atypical role, in the finale for example the look she gives Firth is just one of those little things that makes me struggle to refrain from choking up. There is also a solid supporting cast, Guy Pearce is good, Michael Gambon is excellent and Timothy Spall does well considering how easily he could have gone into caricature(and I can understand why people have said he did). In conclusion, a wonderful movie and one of the best of the year. 10/10 Bethany Cox

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]