Some subjects naturally lend themselves to interesting stories and when well written, make for good performances in good movies. You'd never think the stammer of a king could be milked for so much drama, but here we are with this film. It sure is strange to see a film where something that is like a footnote to a historic personage can be labored so much into this award-winning film; though I don't know why I am so surprised upon reflection. More trifling things have graced the screen - why not a royal stammer?
What's Good About It
All that English restraint that eventually builds to the rah-rah moment when the UK commit to war with Hitler's Germany is all very nice. It's a rousing little nationalistic film for the glory of the late British Empire in its dying days.
The performances are good, but then it's hard to go wrong with Colin Firth playing the stuffiest Englishman of them all, a historic personage of a King. Geoffrey Rush was equally compelling to watch, although I never really saw Lionel Logue, I just saw the fantastic mug-work of a Geoffrey Rush. He has a fantastically plastic face, and his bad-acting of Shakespeare was quite delightful Doubtless he stole moments and mannerisms from his former students.
What's Bad About It
I really didn't care for the choice of the odd compositions for the close ups where there was less looking room than the space behind the heads. I know the looseness makes for a more off-kilter feel which is integral to the story - probably the sort of arguments they'd mount - but the bottom line is that they were more distracting than anything else. I kept wanting to re-frame every close up.
Also, the endless appeal to realism is a bit on the nose. It probably is a well-researched true story and everybody is interested in it being a proper representation, but there are moments where one is simply not convinced. A commitment to proper realism, while valid in this instance, is actually a little annoying in this film.
What's Interesting About It
The bleeding obvious thing to point out is that it must be Oscar Season soon because the film garnering good crits features a main character with an impediment. Geoffrey Rush should know how that deal works out as he's fashioned a formidable career since playing David Helfgott, schizophrenic idiot savant of the piano, in 'Shine'. This time it is Colin Firth attempting to "not go the full retard", as it were, as per Robert Downey Jr.'s admonition in 'Tropic Thunder'.
As such I think it's worth doing a check list.
- Is it a period piece? - Yes, lots of fancy clothes get put on by actors.
- Does it have a strong female protagonist? No, but Helena Bonham-Carter's turn as Queen Mum paints her as strong and supportive in the face of adversity. That always wins points.
- Does it have Nazis? Yes, Hitler is a looming threat
- Is it an uplifting movie with a heavily moralistic tone? Yes.
- Does the little guy win against all odds? If you think that the prince who is 2nd in line to succession to the throne of the Great British Empire is "the little guy", then yes.
- Does it feature horses? No, but it is the Royal Family and so there is always the hint of horses even when none are around.
- Does it have a rousing speech moment? Yes, it's all about that rousing speech moment.
- Does it confirm the prejudices of the middle class? Yes. It shows once again what a nice thing the English Class system is and how it throws up such fine men as King George VI who can overcome a stutter and through association with such fine men as Winston Churchill, beat Hitler's Germany. And the Australian bloke who helps him out with his stutter isn't such a bad person either.
I think it will win about 8 statues. Colin Firth will win an Oscar in spite of the smear campaign against George VI that's circulating saying he was a Nazi sympathiser. I think the historic truth might be that a lot of conservatives feared the Bolsheviks so much they welcomed the anti-communist Hitler and the Nazis, until of course they started invading people and killing people. I don't think King George VI would have approved much of the latter bits.
Class Warfare And Nazism
The more I think about it, the more it is easy to see just how much the royal families of Europe detested and feared Bolshevism and communism. If there was one message that had been sent to these personages of privilege, it was that the masses could topple them with sufficient motivation. This makes for a very complex terrain where on the one hand the rise of Hitler is detestable to the aristocracy because he was so common, and yet he presented himself as the great opponent of Bolshevism. This strange bifurcation entrapped many a conservative into backing Nazism.
It is in this lacuna of history that the abdication of King Edward VIII takes place as well as the on-going speculation that goes on that the Windsors were perhaps pro-Nazi in outlook. I have a feeling you would have to forgive the royals if they were a little seduced into thinking Hitler might have been on their side; afterall the Bolsheviks most certainly weren't. Consequently, what's more than interesting is how little commentary there is about Stalin or communist Russia in this film. It's as if it's ignoring the elephant in the room, all so it can carry on describing the class system in its glory.
I guess I'm a little bolshy myself when I see that class, privilege and entitlement are the backbone of the narrative of this film. It's a little irksome to see the English Monarchy set so resolutely as the raison d'etre of the British state, and by extension the glory of the class system. Perhaps I am hopelessly the egalitarian Australian in that context. I find it hard to take on board the notion that the Royal Family is a kind of a priori good for the society of England when in fact it represents the central core of the ancient regime and the class system.
For the record, I'm not saying it's a good thing to have revolutions or to execute Czars and Kings, but it seems a little disingenuous to think that these historic notions that led to revolutions somehow don't apply to the United Kingdom.
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