The King's Speech (2010)

Film Title: The King Speech (OSCAR 2010 Best Picture)

CASTS:
Colin Firth (Best Actor) as Prince Albert, Duke of York/King George VI
Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth, Duchess of York / Queen Elizabeth
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue
Guy Pearce as Edward, Prince of Wales/King Edward VIII
Michael Gambon as King George V
Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill
Jennifer Ehle as Myrtle Logue
Derek Jacobi as Cosmo Gordon Lang (Archbishop of Canterbury)
Anthony Andrews as Stanley Baldwin
Eve Best as Wallis Simpson
Freya Wilson as Princess Elizabeth
Ramona Marquez as Princess Margaret
Claire Bloom as Queen Mary

DIRECTOR:
Tom Hooper (Best Director)

WRITERS:
David Seidler

PRODUCERS:
Iain Canning
Emile Sherman
Gareth Unwin
Geoffrey Rush (2nd Best Actor for me. lol)


PLOT:
The film opens with Prince Albert, Duke of York (played by Colin Firth), the second son of King George V, speaking at the close of the 1925 British 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 on a gramophone record, but convinced that he has stammered throughout, Albert leaves in a huff. Logue offers him the recording as a keepsake.


As King George V (Michael Gambon) makes his 1934 Christmas address, he explains to his son the importance of broadcasting for the modern monarchy. Later, Albert plays Logue's recording and hears an unbroken recitation of Shakespeare in his own voice. He returns to Logue, and they work together on muscle relaxation and breath control, while simultaneously probing the psychological roots of his stammer. The Prince reveals some of the pressures of his childhood: his strict father; the repression of his natural left-handedness; a painful treatment with metal splints for his knock-knees; a nanny who favoured his elder brother – David, the Prince of Wales, deliberately pinching Albert at the daily presentations to their parents so he would cry and his parents would not want to see him; and the early death in 1919 of his little brother Prince John. As the treatment progresses, the two become friends and confidants.

Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter as the Duke and Duchess of York
On 20 January 1936 George V dies, and David, the Prince of Wales (Guy Pearce) accedes to the throne as King Edward VIII, but he wants to marry Wallis Simpson (Eve Best), an American divorcée socialite, which would provoke a constitutional crisis. At a party in Balmoral Castle, Albert points out that Edward cannot marry a divorced woman and retain the throne, Edward accuses his brother of a medieval-style plot to usurp his throne, citing Albert's speech lessons as an attempt to ready himself. Albert is tongue-tied at the accusation, and Edward resurrects his childhood taunt of "B-B-Bertie". At his next session, the Prince has not forgotten the incident. In an attempt to console him, Logue insists that Albert could be king and says the shilling of their wager should bear the Duke's head as monarch. Albert accuses Logue of treason and, in a temper, he mocks Logue's failed acting career and humble origins, causing a rift in their friendship.

When King Edward abdicates to marry, Albert becomes King George VI. He needs Logue's help and he and the Queen visit the Logues' residence to apologise. When the King insists that Logue be seated in the king's box during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, Dr Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Derek Jacobi), questions Logue's qualifications. This prompts another confrontation between the King and Logue, who explains he began by treating shell-shocked soldiers in World War I. When Logue sits in St Edward's Chair and dismisses the Stone of Scone as a trifle, the King's clear remonstration of Logue's disrespect for the relics leads him to realise that he is as capable as those before him.

Upon the September 1939 declaration of war with Germany, George VI summons Logue to Buckingham Palace to prepare for his radio speech to the country. As the King and Logue move through the palace to a tiny studio, Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) reveals to the King that he too had once had a speech impediment but had found a way to use it to his advantage. The King delivers his speech as if to Logue, who coaches him through every moment. As Logue watches, the King steps onto the balcony of the palace with his family, where thousands of people assembled for the speech applaud him.

A final title card explains that, during the many speeches King George VI gave during World War II, Logue was always present. It is also explained that Logue and the King remained friends, and that, "King George VI made Lionel Logue a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1944."

PHOTOS:



REVIEW:
The King's Speech dominated the Academy Awards (2010), with 12 nomination and winning Best Pictures, Best Director, and Best Actor. It also was nominated 14 in BAFTAs and won seven awards. Obviously this is the best film so far for Tom Hooper who used to direct short films and TV series. And for Colin Firth, this is the second time he was nominated as Best Actor in OSCAR (first was "A Single Man" in 2009) and at this film, he finally won it.

AWARDS:
At the 83rd Academy Awards, The King's Speech won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth), and Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler). The film had received 12 Oscar nominations, more than any other film. Besides the four categories it won, the film received nominations for Best Cinematography (Danny Cohen) and two for the supporting actors (Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush), as well as two for its mise-en-scène: Art Direction and Costumes.
At the 64th British Academy Film Awards, The King's Speech won seven awards, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Best Actor for Firth, Best Supporting Actor for Rush, Best Supporting Actress for Bonham Carter, Best Original Screenplay for Seidler, and Best Music for Alexandre Desplat. The film had been nominated for 14 BAFTAs, more than any other film.
At the 68th Golden Globe Awards, Firth won for Best Actor. The King's Speech won no other Golden Globes despite earning seven nominations, more than any other film.
At the 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Firth won the Best Actor award, and the entire cast won Best Ensemble, meaning Firth went home with two acting awards in one evening. Hooper won the Directors Guild of America Awards 2010 for Best Director.[76] The film won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture at the Producers Guild of America Awards 2010.
The King's Speech also won the People's Choice Award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival[78] won Best British Independent Film at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards, and the 2011 Goya Award for Best European Film from the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish Academy of Cinematic Art and Science).

BOX OFFICE:
In the UK and Ireland, the film was the highest earning film on its opening weekend, it took in £3,510,000 from 395 cinemas. The Guardian said that it was one of the biggest takes in recent memory, compared to Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which, for example, two years earlier earned £1.5 million less. It continued a "stunning three weeks" atop the UK Box office, and earned over £3 million for four consecutive weekends, the first film to do so since Toy Story 3 (2010). After five weeks on UK release, it is being hailed as the most successful independent British film ever.
In the United States The King's Speech opened with £206,851 in four theatres, averaging £51,713 per theatre. It holds the record for the highest per theatre gross of 2010. It was widened to 700 screens on Christmas Day, and 1,543 screens on 14 January 2011. It made £4.81 million in North America during the New Year's Day weekend, and £7 million during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend.
In Australia, The King's Speech made more than £4 million in the first two weeks, according to figures collected by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.[citation needed] The executive director of Palace Cinemas, Benjamin Zeccola, said customer feedback on the film was spectacular. "It's our No.1 for all the period, all throughout the country. ... I think this is more successful than Slumdog Millionaire and a more uplifting film. It's a good example of a film that started out in the independent cinemas and then spread to the mainstream cinemas."

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