This weekend, my hubby and I ventured out to see The King's Speech
I haven't seen a lot of movies at the theater this year. Frankly, there haven't been that many that truly looked worth the time and money. I have netflix (and love it) and so movies definitely fall into either the "renting" or "trot out to the theater" categories.
The King's Speech is most certainly worth trotting out to the theater to see and it is not surprising that, this morning, it was nominated for a boatload of Academy Awards.
The central story of the film is that of King George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II) and his struggles to overcome the stammer that he has had since early childhood. The world has entered the era of radio and television and, in the words of King Geaorge V (in the film) "It is no longer enough for a King to merely look good in a uniform. He must be able to speak to his public".
But the film is about much more than that. The British Royal Family is one of only a handful of European monarchies that survive to the present day and it is important to note that the period of history between 1910 and 1945 saw the fall of most of the rest. In the film, we see some of the inner workings of the royal family and quite a bit about the crisis of Edward VII's infatuation with Wallis Simpson and his eventual abdication.
I have no doubt that there are some historical inaccuracies in the film - apparently Edward (known to his family as David) and Wallis were known to have ties to Hitler and be Nazi sympathizers, a fact which is largely glossed over - but that didn't bother me. The central story is that of George (known to his family as Albert or "Bertie") with the storylines of other royal characters loosely hung around it.
But the bit I really want to get at is the relationship between "Bertie" and Lionel Logue, the speech therapist. Logue is not only a commoner, he is a quite common commoner and the close relationship between this man and the eventual King of England is practically unheard of. Colin Firth does an incredible job of portraying a man who can be very down to earth but, at the same time, has been groomed for privilege his entire life. And Geoffrey Rush does an equally incredible job portraying a man who - while he understands his place in the British social hierarchy - also understands how vital it is that he not conform to those standards in the treatment of his patient.
As I watched Lionel coach Bertie through his stammer and fear of public speaking, the cajoling, the building up, the tearing down, the mechanics of speech, and getting at the psychological roots of the inability to speak in front of others, I saw my own job.
When the film ended, I turned to my husband and said "You've just seen what I do all day". My main job - despite all the blogging and comic strip stuff - is that of a music teacher and performer. The difference between a good musician and a great musician is often less about the mechanics of playing the instrument than the psychology of the performer. My first job is to ensure that my students have the mechanical dexterity to play the instrument and learn the notes. But then comes the really tricky bit - getting them to the point where they not only understand how to interpret the music for themselves, but to communicate that musical interpretation to an audience without losing their focus or completely falling apart.
It is my favorite part of the job but it is also the hardest and I often don't truly know the impact I'm having. My students go out into the world and I generally don't get to see how they turn out or wether they feel my contributions are an important part of who they come to be.
In this film, it was very nice to see, not only the level of Lionel Logue's success in curing the stammer, but the gratitude of King George for the service and the friendship.
So - I give the film 4 stars and suggest you trot out to see it as soon as possible.
Oh, and one of my favorite bits is when Lionel sits in the coronation thrown and points out that people have carved their names in it. I'm not giving anything away because it's in the above trailer.
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