The King's Speech

Yesterday I treated my mum to tickets to see The King's Speech as part of a series of birthday surprises. Having seen the trailer on TV I was instantly interested in watching this movie and it was not a disappointment; it was a triumph.

Funded by the British Film Company and the National Lottery Film Fund, this masterpiece shone out as a fantastic piece of historic filming. True it was not entirely accurate, the timeline of the relationship between Lionel Logue and Prince Albert was shortened from the factual 10 years to a more concise 3, and Winston Churchill (played by the fantastic Timothy Spall) had his role in the King's personal life enchanced for the script - but who cares?! This was a wonderful piece of nolstalgic entertainment and taught me things I was not aware of previously - such as the fact that the young Prince Albert was subjected to torture by his first nanny and that he had stuttered in the first place; something I was (perhaps naively) unaware of.
The scriptwriter, David Seidler, should be given a knighthood. He put so much effort into writing this screenplay when battling with cancer, and even went to the effort of reflecting the actual sessions between Logue and the King by reading through Logue's own notes. Everything that he could do to portray the close personal and professional relationship between these two men was done. It made me laugh and shocked me at times too - who would've thought the Greatest Mr Darcy would ever pace agonisingly around a room shouting swear words at the top of his lungs as part of his speech thearapy?!
The casting was also a triumph. Colin Firth was an incredible King George VI, I think this his best role to date, perhaps even better than Mr Darcy. His stuttering and his facial expressions when speaking of his childhood or stuggling with different tasks and speeches made me want to hug and protect him throughout, and the scenes with his daughters had me in tears. Helena Bonham Carter was a supurb Duchess and Queen, showing the soft, loving and supportive side of the Royal family. Geoffrey Rush was - incredible. Just amazing. The film also sported Michael Gambon as George V, Derek Jacobi and Jenniger Ehle (Elizabeth Bennet to Firth's Darcy) as Mrs Logue.
A fantastic example of history being brought alive through intangible entertainment. Mum didn't stop thanking me for about half an hour, and she, my sister and I thoroughly bored my brother by discussing it all evening haha.
And yes. I cried. A lot.