Monday 16 January 2012

the kings speech ( 2010) - tom hooper












The Kings Speech was much better than l envisaged, as l fully expected it to be some kind of  Merchant Ivory / Rambo hybrid, where the future King overcomes his setbacks and difficulties, to emerge victorious at the finale, despite all odds. Don't get me wrong, it was like that (after all, they want to appeal to the American audiences), but not as obviously overblown as l imagined. In fact, l enjoyed it, even in it's so obvious 'What a sad life he has had',  'Poor little darling he has been teased and frightened', 'I've got no friends' and 'I don't really want this life' kind of way. I have little sympathy for somebody in his position who has untold wealth and influence, when all he has to do is make some speeches and show himself in public, but, saying that, Colin Firth was excellent as King George V1. I also thought Geoffrey Rush was superb as Lionel Logue, his speech therapist, and l lasted to the end, which l was not expecting beforehand. Somewhat obvious, overblown and sentimental, but that's exactly the sort of movie that attracts the Oscars (amongst other awards), so it's no great wonder the film was done that way.
And then he led my grandfather into war.....the bastard!


toodle pip

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