The Kings Speech

Title: The Kings Speech
Year: 2010
Director: Tom Hooper
Lead: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush
Rated: Rated R for some language.

King George VI must become the man his country needs.

Let me start by saying that this film should not be rated R, and every person from age 10-100 should see this movie. Its so historically relevant that I'm surprised the story was not told like this sooner. Everybody will get something out of seeing this film, and I call it a "film" out of utmost respect. This film is perfect. I say that without any level of exaggeration. It is everything I look for in a movie. It has not only a beginning, a middle, and an end, but it has a flawless level of storytelling to get from point "a" to "b". It has actors that play their parts as if they are the characters themselves. It has a vision that hardly any films have, it is absolutely beautiful to look at, and it is by far, my favorite for best picture. Lets start with cinematography, because that is what hooked me from the opening frame. It is pure brilliance, the framing is impeccable, each character and object is lined up so perfectly that you could watch this movie with no sound and be entertained. The opening speech is filmed so well that its near indescribable. Colin Firth steps up to the microphone to deliver the closing speech at the British Expo, nervously studies his enormous crowd, pauses for an irregular amount of time, begins to speak, stammers, again, and again, the crowd begins losing faith, the movie begins. Its shot so well, close up of the mic, of his mouth, shots of the radio room, of the crowd, its foggy, its tense. Later on in the film we are treated with offset framing of characters with great backgrounds. I could go on, but you get the idea, its perfect. The acting is so fantastic, I have never seen Helena Bonham Carter play a character as soft and loving as she is in this movie. The writing is also great, just the perfect balance of humor and seriousness. This is where the R rating comes from, which bums me out so much. The scene that takes this movie from PG to R is the minute or so where Colin Firth's character repeatedly blurts out every swear word in the English language while trying to break his stammer. He is prompted to do this by his speech therapist who asks if he stammers when he swears. It becomes humorously apparent to us as the viewers that he indeed, does not stammer when he swears. The "F" word is said roughly 11 times in an extremely short amount of time. If not for that vital piece of story, this movie would be PG. In closing, Tom Hooper has created a perfect movie, all things were done perfectly right. The Academy Award nominations definitely reflect his accomplishment. The Kings Speech was nominated for a remarkable 12 Academy Awards including Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor in Geoffrey Rush, Best Supporting Actress in Helena Bonham Carter, Best Actor in Colin Firth, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director in Tom Hooper, and Best Picture, along with some nominations in technical aspects. 10 out of 10