Finding Our Voice in The King’s Speech

 

Introduction

It is been 15 years since The King’s Speech left us speechless after sweeping the Academy Awards and BAFTAs in key categories like Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. It even won the Goya for Best European Film. All of this on a budget of just $ 15 million dollars, from which it grossed a total of $ 427.4 million worldwide. Not bad, not bad at all considering how this “simple” production delivered much more than other blockbusters.

So, when I heard about the Small Movies with Big Impacts Challenge, The King’s Speech immediately came to my mind because the impact it had on me has remained to this day and will remain so for as long as I live.

As somebody who struggled with speech impediment, mainly due to not being able to pronounce the letter “r”, it reminded me of how I was able to find my voice through Bertie and Lionel’s shared journey.  A journey that screenwriter David Seidler was also aware as he too developed a stammer due to an emotional trauma during World War II.

To learn about King George VI’s success on overcoming his stutter became truly an inspiration for Seidler to tell his story in the most accurate way, by using Lionel’s notebooks and interacting with some of his patients or family relatives. But once finished, he had to wait until The Queen Mother died in 2002 for making him promise not to publish it while she was alive.

During that time, he rewrote it and turned into a play included mechanical breathing exercises and psychology therapy through the dialogue. One thing led to another and eventually Tom Hooper was convinced by his mother to turn it into a film project. A project faithful to the truth in every sense, with some dramatic exceptions, reimagined sessions and a slight change in the order of events. But faithful nonetheless. 

From any perspective, it is undeniable its significance throughout the years. It not just an historical drama, is many things and at the same time is a personal, human and moving story that serves as an inspiration to those searching for their own voice. That said, I will do my best to remain objective, but due to my emotional connection to the main character, I will have to use my heart to contribute my personal point of view.

I can’t help it, and as you read on, you will understand what I mean. So, I hope to do justice to director Tom Hooper, Producer Geoffrey Rush and screenwriter David Seidler for this powerful story.

Now, getting into the story:

The film opens with Prince Albert, the Duke of York, unable to deliver a speech at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition Wembley Stadium. This prompts his wife, Elizabeth, to discover Lionel Logue, a non-medically speech therapist on 1934. Under pressure from his father, Albert agrees to undergo therapy, embarking on a personal journey that would change not only his life, but also that of Lionel, his family and the people of England as World War II slowly unfold.

The King’s Speech has many themes, and all of which develop during King George IV’s unexpected ascension to the Throne. Watching Albert struggle with stuttering is hard and uncomfortable, I understand the pressure and judgment from everyone around you. I was lucky to only deal with my schoolmates, Albert had to deal with larger crowds in packed stadiums and also bullying from his brother.

That his father forced him to pronounce every word correctly, brought back bad memories. I remember using synonyms to stop them from bothering me. It is really frustrating and never helps. All the opposite. I used to cry myself to sleep because I couldn’t even say my name. Time and again, I forced myself as Albert was forced to practice the Royal Christmas Message. I want to believe that today there is at least some knowledge and understanding. That is why it is very helpful to witness this from Albert’s perspective.   

His relationship with Lionel was not easy at the beginning but after discovering that his stammer was more related to childhood trauma, he began to really open up with him and himself. He started doing the physical exercises such as repeating tongue twisters and strengthening the flabby tummy, constant vocalizing, looseness of the jaw, little bounces to relax the body’s muscles, deep breathes and pronouncing word by word all his speeches before saying them in public.

Yes, it is a lot of work but it is necessary one because, in addition to being fun, it really helps a lot to do each one of this vocal mechanics. In fact, I practiced them all, and my favorite was the tongue twisters.

Just as Albert received help, I also received it during my last semester at university, since it did take me years to get the courage to ask for it.  Like Alberto, there was a moment when I lost hope and decided to speak as little as possible. Thanks to this linguistics professor, I improved a lot, and it was right when the film was coming out, so it served as a reinforcement. A necessary one because people were starting to notice the real me, for better or for worse.

Unfortunately, cursing out loud never crossed my mind. But singing words than contain the letter “r” and putting gum on the palate to force my tongue to articulate, managed to help me achieve what I thought was impossible. That and acknowledging that it was also a mental issue, Albert discovered when he read with loud music in his ears while I did it with earplugs. Both recorded our voice and both discovered that we could pronounce without any physical problem.

Then his father dies, his brother decides to abdicate and Albert becomes King George VI. The coronation process and dealing with Hitler’s ascension is too much to handle that he decides to put his trust on his now friend Lionel from whom he had several fights, fights that would end up accepting that he has a voice, which is the main message of this inspirational story, that we all have a voice within ourselves and that we have to get it out to be heard. 

Whether it is to make a difference or to show the world that we exist, if George VI was able to deliver his iconic speech hours after the declaration of war on Nazi Germany in 1939, then anything is really possible. Think about it: a human being dealing with his childhood trauma, unsure of himself, and suddenly having to take on leadership with passion, hard work and courage, I can’t imagine a better example to follow.

There is no doubt Tom Hooper was a genius to only focused on indoors scenes instead of the exteriors. Recurring to unbalanced frames every time Albert is struggling with psychological and stammer problems. This explained why sometimes we can feel the anxiety and frustration of the main character, because it was filmed that way.

Hooper wanted as to really put us inside of Albert’s mind, as a human being, not as a member of the Royal Family, but as an equal through our mutual feelings as expressed by Colin Firth. His interacting with Rush is easily the best to develop in the good and bad moments. Like Firth expressed on an interview, it is a bromance that reaches your heart. Also, I must say that this is by far the best performance of Helena Bonham Carter, I wish we did more natural characters. 

It is also worth mentioning that Albert is always in the corners of the frames, leaving large spaces to fill, in contrast to Lionel’s camera angles, which are symmetrical to let us know that everything is going well in his life. The only unbalanced frames in Lionel’s scenes are when the two are fighting or separated.  It was a good touch to use the fog during the walk in the park, a part from saving budget it reminded me of Pride and Prejudice visual since it felt like a magical dreamlike sequence.

The textured abstract look of Lionel office wall served as a node to the impressionist art movement. At the same time, it was clever to filmed on similar locations as described in the movie, Ely and Lincoln Cathedral and Pullens buildings did help us believe we were living on the 1930’s. That and the strings and pianos arrangements provided by composer Alexandre Desplat resulted in a classical and personal way.

 Exactly as I said in the beginning, The King’s Speech is much more than it seems and seeing how much it did with only $ 15 million, I really wish Cord Jefferson’s suggestion had been taken more seriously when he won Best Adapted Screenplay for American Fiction last year, and I quote: "Instead of making one $200 million movie, try making twenty $10 million movies."

This movie remains relevant, even more so than when it was released, and it is good for children and adults around the world who face low self-esteem, speech difficulties and trauma. It serves as a beacon of hope, a light in the shadows of a now-common problem thanks to people like Bertie, Lionel and Elizabeth, who decided not to ignore but to deal the situation in the best way possible, with love and understanding.

That is why I will always praise and recommend The King’s Speech. An unforgettable and inspiring story thanks to the great storytellers Tom Hooper and David Seidler, and the moving performances of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

I hope you had enjoyed this article: it was a pleasure writing it.