The King's Speech: Not Your Typical Story of A King

I hated history subjects ever since I started to go to school. I found history boring. Sometimes it was because of the teachers who cannot really engage their students in the discussions but most of the time it was because I was just lazy to memorize people's names, dates, and historical events. In relation to this movie, at first glance I already had this idea that I will never be able to enjoy the movie. I never even had the plan to watch it. The title itself made it so unappealing for me. However, upon hearing that this movie won plenty of awards and nominations in the Golden Globe and Academy Awards.

Well, there it goes... I downloaded the movie and watched it out of curiosity. And as for my review, it which will focus mainly on the characters because it;s the only aspect which I think I can say something about this movie.

Unlike any other heroic stories of other kings which focused on their accomplishments, this one deviated from the norm. It's all about the story of a prince who was made king when his father died because his older brother didn't want to take the responsibility. Now, that's a big deviation from the usual rivalry of brothers to get the throne. The story revolved around the King George and hid speech defect. Ever since he was younger, he cannot talk straight and would just end up stammering and embarrassed in front of the common people whenever he delivers his speech or his fathers'. It became his biggest concern when he learned that he is going to be the next king of England because the position also requires a lot of responsibility and of course public speeches. This was the reason why his wife consulted and worked with speech therapists to alleviate her husband's condition. And this was when Lionel Logue came into the picture. He was an Australian speech therapist whom King George became friends with. They had quite a lot of sessions together and King Georges' short temper always made him shout out curses inside Lionel's place. The speech therapist didn't give the king any special treatments inside his territory. He wasn't even allowed to smoke and he really should follow all the things he was asked to do. The therapy went through hard times and King George even came to the point of giving up. When the war broke with the Germans, King George was left with no choice. He had to give his speech and words of encouragement and hope to his people amidst that troubled time. He sought for Lionel's therapy again and with the latter's discipline, encouragement and guidance, he was able to deliver his first ever successful public speech. This was the very reason why he and his therapist became good friends. From then on, Lionel and his family became those who were very close to the king's heart.

Honestly, it started out okay for me maybe because of my high expectations right before watching the movie. On the other hand, it became dragging and some scenes were quite boring for me. It was only until when the King already started his speech therapy that made me so engage in the story. The therapy built not just the usual doctor-patient relationship but a very strong bond of friendship between the two persons involved. I liked how the characters played their own roles which made the movie worth watching. Each one really owned the roles they were made to play especially the two most important ones. The story made me realize that being a king is not all about the fame, power and privileges that are attached to title but it seems to me that they have more struggles than conveniences for being who they are. The movie also highlighted the power of friendship which cuts across status and role in the society. Lionel's pure intention of helping the king without expecting anything in return made him overcome all the others who were putting him down. He made his decision to fight for what he believed was the best way to help the king and what more can be noble than that?

The therapists' character was the one I admired the most in this movie and not until I finished watching that I realized how I came to like to movie, it's story in general. I guess it's also time for me to deviate from the horror, fiction, and animated movies that I always like to watch. If I can learn lessons like the ones I learned from this movie each time, I will be more than willing to give up the ones I really enjoy watching. This one is a remarkable movie that everyone shouldn't miss. Can really leave you with a smile right after watching.

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