The King's Speech - Tim

As a Republican (in the European, not the US-American diction), I have the right to remain skeptic regarding a medium that in any way glorifies a member of a royal, or merely blue-blooded family. My fear that this would happen in the case of The King's Speech was quickly eased when I realised this is not a film about a great man, but about a terrified, insecure, all to human man who happens to become King of one fifth of the world's population. When King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) accuses his brother Albert (Colin Firth) of wanting to replace him, he could not be further from the truth. "Bertie", who has stammered for as long as he can remember, is terrified of speaking in public. If he cannot even suppress his stammering when he is telling his daughters a story, how is he supposed to give a speech in front of thousands. The recent invention of radio even increases that number to millions of listeners worldwide. With the same reluctance with which he became king in the first place, Bertie agrees to a speech therapy with Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) who has the audacity to suggest that for the duration of the therapy, the two men must treat each other as equals.

It is very hard to find flaws in The King's Speech. A historian might find some inaccuracies, but then the film is less about the life of King George VI - though an intriguing story this is. It is about friendship, sibling rivalry and conquering one's fears. It is about being pushed into a role that one never wanted. It is about feelings that transcend social classes. At its heart lie two central performances that are up for Oscars - and have every right to be. Colin Firth manages to harness the viewer's unreserved sympathy - and pity. Even though Geoffrey Rush doesn't have the possibility to individuate as much as Firth, he absolutely convinces us that this is an actual person he's playing: A teacher, a husband, a father. Beware, this is a tearjerker in the fashion of Shawshank Redemption. And like the latter, it shows that friendship can and must prevail even in the most unlikely circumstances.