The King's Speech [Blu-ray] [2010]

Wonderful film, great characterisation, neatly paced, well plotted, fantastic production values, won its Oscar against strong competition. Sadly someone clearly hated the Archbishop of Canterbury and was allowed to be very clumsy with Derek Jacobi's lines! Extremely poignant, as the story was well known, but only from the outside. There are many good insights and historical annecdotes. Many great moments that decorate really difficult time. RECOMMENDED

This film is notable for a number of reasons. Some of them are wholly predictable, other less so. So, let's start with the things one might expect. First, the quality of the cast is beyond reproach. Colin Firth is quite startlingly good as the shy, diffident and afflicted future King. Rush is avuncular and authoritative, while the supporting cast are pitch perfect. The delectable Helena Bonham-Carter puts more flesh on the young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and future Queen Mother, than even this high quality script might have allowed, while the brief appearance of Michael Gambon is a nice study in both Saturnine severity and pitiful confusion as George V nears his end. For me, however, the cream of the supporting cast is Guy Pearce's portrayal of the Duke of Windsor. David is shown as essentially complacent and, beneath it all, weaker than his poor, derided brother. Pearce nails the clipped frustration and the arrogant languor perfectly. So far, so good. Where this film scores even better, however, is in the rather more playfully unpredictable script and the way the performers inhabit it. At first sight, this may appear to be nothing more than a rather dry period piece, but what stands out when you watch it is just how FUNNY it is. Yes, you heard right: funny. When I first saw this at the cinema I laughed out loud more loudly and more often than I have at many comedy films. The whole thing careers along at a lively pace, held together with this quick-witted and coruscating wit. Possibly my favourite moment of the whole film comes when Lionel Logue's wife arrives home early from playing bridge to find some rather unexpected visitors to her home. It's a beautiful little pen painting of the awkwardness of the class system of the time, and beautifully judged by all. But of course, all this wouldn't work as a comedy alone, which makes the quality of the dramatic playing all the more satisfying. Since receiving the DVD, I've watched it several times more and have not tired of the standard of the work and the little gems that each view manages to reveal There are no real low points; this is a film that does something very rare: it manages to combine a host of already exemplary components into a pretty near perfect whole. There are no major faults at all, and very few minor ones that I can remember. It is, quite clearly, a film of a very high standards, and richly deserves the plaudits it has received.

Very good to watch

First off folks I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Republican; I simply cannot wait to see the back of the free loading parasites. That being said this film is not to be missed. It's simply the best film I've seen in years that will actually be on my list to see again...oh hang-on The Social Network wasn't too bad - anyway I digress. Like most great films the story is quite simple, the viewer isn't bombarded with pointless subtext and metaphors. What you see here is straight forward and a real human story. The brilliant sets and small ensemble cast is truly refreshing - very little CGI which is always a plus, hold your head in shame George `Howard the Duck' Lucas (I believe some of the crowd scenes were enhanced) couple that with some fine performances and what you have is magic. Gripes (hence the four not five stars): Helena Bonham Carter's voice is a little annoying and quite hammy for me; as too is Derek Jacobi's portrayal of Archbishop Cosmo Lang. To pinch a line from `Amadeus' he sounds so lofty he could s4it marble! I just wish the director had included a character that scene stealer, Alan Rickman-like. I just think something like that was missing. I'm reaching here but maybe having a cynical footman swearing under his breath funny lines or a chauffeur overplaying his working class roots...I think you know what I mean. To finish, you learn just how lucky the present Queen was to actually ascend to the throne. It makes you think; had pro-Hitler King Edward VIII not married Mrs Simpson (who incidentally had many lovers during her marriage to him) we'd all probably be speaking German now, have a strong economy, a meticulous work ethic and be at war with the Americans...so it's not all bad!

Although it is surprising that it turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, it's no great surprise that The King's Speech was a hit: it's a terrific audience picture. It may follow an established template - its double-act between the impaired monarch and the pomposity-puncturing commoner who treats him as much with common sense and emotional as much as mechanical therapy is basically The Mad Speech Impediment of King George with a happier ending - but the script is a perfect crowdpleaser that hits all the right emotional and comic beats and is blessed with terrific performances from an impressive cast of players who haven't always been as well cast as they might in past films. The almost trademark constipated style that often works against Colin Firth in his more conventional leading roles is absolutely perfect here while Helena Bonham-Carter, who can switch onto autopilot petulant mode in some roles, is absolutely delightful here with a wonderful sense of comic timing. Geoffrey Rush isn't exactly stretching himself here as the therapist, the part plays so well to his strengths and his own comic touch that that turns out to be an advantage while Guy Pearce makes a convincingly dismissive and occasionally vindictive Edward and Michael Gambon impresses as the ailing monarch despite his limited screen time. Only Timothy Spall's Winston Churchill seems a bit of an uninspired miscast. Director Tom Hopper is better with actors than he is with lenses, the look of the film that uninvitingly flat and lifeless look so beloved of modern period pieces that seem to believe that the past was devoid of primary colors, but since this is a performance and script-led piece that's not the handicap it could have been. The film only really misses its footing with the climactic speech because, ironically, it doesn't trust the voice and swamps the scene with music to overegg the solemnity and magnitude of the occasion. But the film is more than enough fun to forgive it. This is one case where you're better off getting the DVD than the UK Blu-ray: the extras are the same - audio commentary by Hooper featurette, interview with Mark Logue,, two genuine speeches by King George VI, production sketches and stills gallery and trailer - but the Blu-ray offers a poor and very unsatisfying 1080/25i transfer than has the same PAL speedup as the DVD rather than being presented at the proper 24fps speed.

After I've seen this film in cinema I wanted to see it again, with all of my friends I'm able to make curious about it and in original language. (I'm very looking forward to May.) This film shows you what really matters; how love, respect or care for each other or for oneself improves one's capabilities, let them grow (or you even discover them). That is how therapy (or every real good relation/connection) works for you, if you even venture to learn to know yourself (and don't take yourself too earnest.)(Sorry, if my English isn't properly, I hope you understand what I mean.)It's a fantastic film. It might not show this King George ("Bertie") how he really was (in fact I've never heard or noticed about him before,) but it isn't supposed to be a biografy, is it? It's a film about a man, who tries to make the best of a situation he didn't choose but has to face,s about one, who has failures and fear and yet finds the courage to work it out with some help he lets occure to him. It could be everyone, (but it happens to become the king). I understand, why people love that film (so I do), it certainly has deserved every award it got. But after this, I became aware, how often I've seen Colin Firth in a film but never noticed him "in the second line". I found him impressive, so I was curious about other films and found A Single Man [DVD] [2009 ], which I find even more worth to see. It's a pity, that he didn't got the oscar for that. I can't hardly describe, what this film is like, grandios, touching, ...., It was "A First" for me to love the film more than the book it is made after. I could recognize so much, it was strange to feel that about a film. (maybe it is only like this for people at my age and with similar experiences, but wow.)I'm very grateful for each coincidence which happened to let me find this film.

I remember when this film came out in the cinemas and the great reviews from critics and from people in general, i must admit i was skeptical as to whether the film could be so good so I decided to wait for it to be released on DVD to make my own mind up. Well I have seen it and I have to say all the hype was rightly deserved. The film is a cinematic masterpiece and one of the finest British film offerings in years. Excellent moving story combined with comic relief in places as well as a fantastic dynamic script and an awesome cast. The relationship between the two main protagonist's Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue is sheer chemistry from the first time they meet. Add to the mix an excellent supporting cast is: Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth Guy Pearce as King Edward III Michael Gambon as King George V Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill Derek Jacobi as the Archbishop of Canterbury The film rightly deserved the international acclaim and praises which culminated in the twelve Oscar nominations for which it won four including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. I would encourage anyone to watch this film and I promise you will enjoy it. The Kings Speech is a classic in our time.

From the very first trailer shown on the TV for this film I knew I wanted to see it but was worried that, as usual, all the hype would prove the film to be a let-down. How wrong I was. What a wonderful, brilliantly sad, funny, feel-good film it was. The characters were so believable and as far as I know true to the 'real' people. The wonderful family group portrayed was astonishing. It is a well know fact that Bertie and Elizabeth were devoted to each other and to their two 'girls' and the film showed just how much. What a wonderful life the Princesses must have had with such adoring parents. There was laughter and such joy between them all and the unlimited and unashamed devotion shown by Queen Elizabeth towards her husband was amazing. This must be the very best of British film making and we need more like this. It is the most wonderful film I have or am ever likely to see. Can't wait for it come out on DVD. Thank you everyone involved in the making of this film for bringing us such joy and Colin ............ what can I say ............ you were superb. Thank you all so, so much.

実在の人物の物語であるというリアリティがある作品です。立場に対するプレッシャーと吃音発症の負の連鎖はとても痛々しいですが、それを克服する過程が見る人に勇気を与える作品だと思います。エンターテイメントを通して吃音への理解を深められたと感じています。

Good movie! Superbly acted!

Réalisé par le britannique Tom Hooper (aussi aux commandes des Misérables version 2013), Le Discours d'un Roi ne rafla pas moins de 4 Oscars en 2011 : Meilleur Film, Meilleur Réalisateur, Meilleur Scénario et Meilleur Acteur pour Colin Firth. L'histoire, tirée des mémoires de Lionel Logue, se centre autours de l'alors Duc d'York, fils du Roi d'Angleterre George V, et se déroule avant qu'il ne devienne George VI, dernier Empereur des Indes et premier Chef du Commonwealth. Attend de bégaiements, il dut faire appel à un australien aux méthodes inhabituelles afin de vaincre cet handicap, barrière entre sa fonction et lui, mais surtout entre un peuple et son Roi. Le film présente tout d'abord un intérêt historique évident : l'intimité d'un Duc puis d'un Roi, les changements sociétaux de l'époque (le souverain, avec l'apparition de la radio puis de la télévision, voit son rôle évoluer, passant d'une apparition majestueuse de temps à autre à une voix, puis une image, présente dans chaque foyer), mais également dévoilant le balet des hommes de pouvoir, de l'apparition d'un Churchill imposant à l'Archevêque de Canterbury, en passant par Edouard VIII, dont le règne fut de courte durée. Enfin, la situation de plus en plus explosive en Europe n'est pas occultée, le nazisme devenant un sujet de plus en plus préoccupant pour la royauté britannique. Cependant, Tom Hooper ne commet pas l'erreur de plomber le rythme du film par une avalanche de références historiques qui aurait pu s'avérer rapidement indigeste. Au contraire, l'Histoire, présentée de manière fluide, entraine avec intelligence le récit et en devient une base aussi solide qu'exploitée avec talent, dévoilée par moment par petites touches aussi discrètes que bien placées (citons le passage où Firth annonce en pleur à sa femme qu'il n'est rien d'autre qu'un marin : en effet, George VI servit dans la Royal Navy au cours de la Première Guerre Mondiale). Cependant, au delà de son côté historique, Le Discours d'un Roi se place avant tout d'un point de vue humain, dévoilant avec une pudeur admirable l'homme derrière la couronne : le Duc d'York, écrasé par le fardeau de son héritage royal, soumis à un père autoritaire, en perpétuel retrait d'un frère ainé aventurier et coureur de femmes, et traumatisé durant son enfance par une gouvernante malsaine et par ses défauts corporels (des genoux cagneux qui l'obligèrent à porter des années durant des coques de métal, et le bégaiement, évidente manifestation physique de son mal être). Un homme tourmenté, doutant de lui-même, rêvant d'être différent (l'histoire raconté à ses filles sur le pingouin se transformant en albatros aux immenses ailes en est le parfait témoignage), mais également se battant en permanence contre ses multiples failles, avec courage et ténacité. A ce titre, je ne peux que saluer le talent d'acteur évident de Colin Firth. Emprunt des fêlures et tourments de Georges VI, il disparaît totalement derrière le rôle, peignant le souverain dans ses moindres détails, d'un clignement d'œil fugace du à son défaut d'élocution à des crises de colère aussi violentes que brusques. La scène d'introduction est ainsi magistrale, l'acteur parvenant en quelques minutes à nous faire sentir tout le mal être du Duc d'York. Remarquable ! Face à lui, interprétant Lionel Logue, Geoffrey Rush est également parfait, orthophoniste talentueux rêvant naïvement des planches, tour à tour espiègle et intraitable quant à ses méthodes, mais toujours honnête et juste. Un rôle dans lequel Rush se coule à la perfection, son talent théâtrale n'en émergeant qu'avec plus de force. Autour de ce duo central gravitent de nombreux seconds rôles qui ne déméritent pas face aux deux acteurs oscarisés : Helena Bonham Carter (tout en finesse et retenue, bien loin de ses compositions habituelles), Guy Pearce (racé et instable) ou encore Michael Gambon (impérial en George V). Cet somme de talents est alors mise en scène avec brio par Tom Hooper, dont la caméra révèle avec simplicité et justesse le portrait de ce Monarque. Au delà de l'aspect émotionnel, les prises de vue sont étonnantes de fluidité, prouvant que le réalisateur, malgré un seul long métrage à son actif avant le Discours d'un Roi (The Damned United), sait également maîtriser l'aspect technique d'un film. Jouant avec justesse sur les contre-plongées et les plongées, il parvient à nous révéler l'embarras ou le triomphe de George VI en une seule prise. Réussite qualitative tant sur un plan historique et sentimental que sur un plan technique, Le Discours d'un Roi n'usurpe en rien la flopée de récompenses qu'il récolta à travers le monde, et mérite incontestablement l'achat. Côté pratique, le coffret contient le dvd et le blu-ray, additionnés à un troisième disque de bonus, ainsi que les Mémoires de Logue dans un livre conséquent et le poster du film. Le coffret en lui-même, à défaut d'être gros, est solide et élégant de sobriété (le seul micro présent sur l'avant du coffret en dit plus long qu'une avalanche d'images).

I can enjoy fine movies with minimalist acting. Where the actors spend a lot of time saying nothing, but looking very serious, or hurt, or angry or whatever. The kind of the thing that lots of young American actors like to do these days. Where emotions are bottled up. This can be very effective. But sometimes, you just want to have a good, old-fashioned wallow in the kind of meaty, no-holds barred acting that, frankly, the British do best. And the best, most satisfying example of that this year is THE KING'S SPEECH, a terrific, interesting, engrossing and surprisingly emotional film about a monarch who stutters. In the years between the two great wars of the 20th Century, King George V ruled England and its colonies with a stern disposition and unshakeable self-confidence. His eldest son, Edward, is a dashing playboy type, but looks forward to his time on the throne. Younger son Albert ("Bertie") is shyer and more conservative...in large part because he has a rather pronounced stammer that years of consulting experts has done nothing to cure. He has a strong wife in Elizabeth, and dotes on his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. And he has no ambitions to be king. His wife convinces him to start consulting with Speech Therapist Lionel Logue, a commoner with some highly uncomment techniques. Not only does he work on the mechanics of speech, but he believes that stammers also come from a psychological place as well. He's a sort of psychologist too. He works with the prince, insists that two men work on a first name basis, and through sheer force of his eccentric personality, begins to wear the reserved Albert down to the point where we learn much about his upbringing. And then, as WWII nears, George V dies and Edward serves only briefly, because the scandal of his love affair with divorced American Wallace Simpson forces him from the throne...and George is horrified to find himself about to be crowned. And eventually, George will have to give perhaps the most important nationwide radio address anyone had ever given in England up to that point...a speech rallying his people to the cause of war. He can ill afford to stammer his way through a speech that needs to inspire confidence and patriotism. It's a fascinating story, utterly engrossing. But it's the uniformly great acting that elevates this to such a high level. Small but effective parts are handled by folks such as Michael Gambon (King George V...excellent), Derek Jacobi as the archbishop, Guy Pearce as King Edward (he's quite good) and Jennifer Ehle in a small but delightful role as Logue's wife. Helena Bonham Carter is more restrained than usual, but also very effective as the Queen. She clearly dotes on her husband, which makes her very sympathetic, yet she also shows that the trappings and conventions of royalty suit her. The two appear to be that seeming rarity, a royal couple that are actually happy with each other. But all this great acting is just icing on the cake for the pure movie-going joy of watching Colin Firth (as King George VI) and Geoffrey Rush (as the uncommon commoner) go toe-to-toe. Both actors are at their finest. Rush can incline towards the hammy (as in the PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN movies) but when the script matches his natural characteristics (such as the unappreciated QUILLS)...he's just a joy to watch. His timing is exquisite and his commitment to his work is amazing. And Firth, though a more "restrained" actor, chews into his role with understated ferocity (this seems to make no sense...but see the film and you'll understand). He makes his Bertie so sympathetic...but rather than just playing a shy stammerer, we see his integrity, his wit, his pain and his explosive temper. His struggle against the casual attitude Logue takes with him is so much fun to watch, as are the great moments these two have together when they discover how well the King speaks when he is cursing. The two develop an odd but deeply affecting friendship. I don't know if the film presents history accurately...but it sure presents history as it would be nice to believe it happened. Both actors should be slam dunks for Oscar nominations...and Firth will be hard to beat. It may be his best "upper class British" performance to date. The film is a bit manipulative. The climactic moments being heavily punctuated with Beethoven seems a bit heavy handed. Some of the dialogue is just TOO good to be believed. But the two actors and their co-stars plow right through any weaknesses or pandering to the audience. A measure of the success of the film...my 23 year old son and 18 year old daughter loved it. For a film so far out of my son's comfort zone to grab him to the extent it did says a lot. This is a film worth seeking out and seeing immediately.

** 1 STAR FOR THE BLU-RAY DISC, NOT FOR THE MOVIE ** Do NOT buy this release of 'The King's Speech' by Momentum Pictures (EAN: 5060116726503, ASIN: B004L53CD2) — the video quality is very poor. After I started playing it and saw the quality I started checking and discovered that the disc is encoded in 1080i (NOT 1080p). Using 1080i encoding for a Blu-ray disc (especially for a recent movie) is very unusual and one can only suspect that Momentum Pictures did this to reduce costs. NOTE: other releases of this movie by other distribution companies ALL use 1080p. NOTE: the fact that the disc is 1080i not 1080p is NOT listed on the Amazon product page.