The announcement of Prince William getting married was big news. Film awards, in general, are big news. So what happens when you put the Royal family and Oscars together? You get The King’s Speech, a historical British film set in the 1930s about King George VI. It has already won several awards and has been nominated for many Oscars. The main stars are Colin Firth (Bridget Jones’ Diary) as “Bertie”, the Duke of York and future King George VI, and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist, Lionel Logue. There is also a great supporting cast with Helen Bonham Carter as the King’s wife, Guy Pearce as the King’s older brother and Timothy Spall as the legendary prime minister Winston Churchill! Although the main point of the film is about the King trying to get over his stammer, at the heart of the story is the relationship between him and Lionel. Their up-and-down relationship develops over several sessions of unusual therapy methods by Lionel, culminating in the final speech of the film. Entwined in the film’s plot are glimpses of politics within the royal family, and their relationships between politicians, the general public and most of all, each other. Although this film is slow-moving, it is also witty, funny, moving and even thrilling, so much so that it will have you so engrossed that you won’t even notice the time fly by. The plot is fascinating, as this part of British history is often forgotten due to the bigger event that happened straight after ‘the speech’ – World War 2. You can see why the actors have been nominated for Oscars; Colin Firth portrays the King in a humanistic and believable way, whereas Geoffrey Rush gives a subtle, yet likeable performance. Additionally, it has been remarkably filmed. Scenes give you a sense of ‘being there’, particularly the tracking shots of people walking. You actually feel like you are walking behind them! Overall, with all the praise this film had been getting, my expectations were high. It did not disappoint at all, from the costumes to the set designs (historical London in particular) and this is one film that will definitely leave you speechless!
Film Vocabulary Glossary
- to be set in
- the verb to describe when and where the film story takes place
- the cast
- the general name we give to all the actors
- the plot
- another name for the storyline of the film
- to be slow-moving
- the adjective we use to describe a film which is the opposite of an action film, where the story develops slowly
- to be witty
- the adjective we use to describe a person or story that is funny and intelligent together
- to be moving
- the adjective we use to describe a story which touches our emotions and makes us feel sad
- to be thrilling
- an adjective we use to describe a story or event and means the same as ‘exciting’
- to portray
- the verb used to describe the person an actor represents in the story
- to give a ………performance
- the phrase used when we want to describe the quality of the actor in a film, so we could say ‘Colin Firth gives a moving performance in the King’s Speech’
- a scene
- a short part of a film a bit like a chapter in a book
