"The King's Speech" (2010; directed by Tom Hooper)
I'm late getting around to this year's Academy Award nominees, as I am every year. "True Grit" came out of the gate like a very fast two-year old filly, but, has faded in the stretch due in no small part to the well-oiled machinations of the Weinstein Organization, who have the exclusive American distribution rights to its chief competitor, "The King's Speech".
The question at this late date, after weeks of advertising and personal appearances by its stars and director, is whether "The King's Speech" could possibly live up to the hype? The answer, I am pleased to say, is a resounding "Yes."
You can't blame me for being a little skeptical; after all, there can't be much left to tell that hasn't already been told of the events leading up to Britain's entry into the Second World War. This was an especially intriguing challenge for someone like myself who grew up watching documentaries about the war when it was still fresh in the memories of most working adults. My Mom, until quite recently, could probably still tell you where she was on the morning Pearl Harbor was attacked (visiting Aunt Tine) or when the Japanese surrendered four years later (in Baltimore, with a newborn baby).
The cast of characters were fairly familiar: there were Hitler, Mussolini and Emperor Hirohito on the other side, each, literally, a darker shade of despotism and militarism than the other. And, on our side there were Churchill and Roosevelt and most inexplicably -- Josef Stalin. In essence, the war was fought between two of the world's bloodiest political regimes, the successors to two destroyed monarchies, each of which were on the losing side of the previous European war (The Great War) that ended right after Mom was born some 92 and one-quarter years ago.
Ironically, it is the second cousin, once removed, of the two vanquished monarchs, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and Czar Nicholas of Russia, who is the subject of this year's highly regarded Best Picture nominee. Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George, Duke of York, is probably the least familiar of the heads of state to serve during the war, in part because he was upstaged by his colorful Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and in part because he died at the comparatively young age of 57 at which point, he was succeeded in rather grand fashion by the present occupant of the British throne, his daughter, Elizabeth.
Apparently, trying to explain the Royal Family to Americans has been a linchpin of British foreign policy for the past seventy years, ever since it became obvious that the two countries would be thrust, once again, into an uneasy military alliance at the close of the 1930s.
But, it hasn't been easy. Until this movie, Prince Albert, or "Bertie" as he was called within the family, played second fiddle to his older brother David, the dashing Duke of Windsor, in the hearts of many Americans. Even before David and his wife became a popular, if somewhat dotty, talk show act in the 1950s and early sixties, he was a popular Prince of Wales, a king, and the subject of a ragingly romantic abdication crisis.
That abdication crisis and its speech was the only King's Speech any American could recite even a few words of and, just about every school kid knew the phrase, "The Woman I Love" referred to an American who would be the present Queen of England but for some antiquated law against the King marrying a divorcee.
But, all of that was before the brief reign of Lady Diana Spencer as consort of the present Prince of Wales. Their very public marital difficulties and subsequent divorce really brings us full circle to the essential family tragedy which is at the bottom of "The King's Speech" -- the movie. And, that is that they are literally, a Victorian institution caught in the headlights of a modernity they took little active role in creating (other than the invention of the Windsor knot) and have been running to keep up with ever since.
The fish out of water aspect of the movie takes on even greater poignancy because Bertie gives every indication of being a warm human being, when given the chance to show it. The scenes with he and the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret-Rose, bring that home. But, his sense of duty to the throne and his complete unfamiliarity with the common touch nearly doom him in his efforts to overcome a speech impediment. In many ways, it is "My Fair Lady" in reverse. By the end the movie, it is difficult to suppress a silent "By Albert Frederick Arthur George, he's got it!"
The question at this late date, after weeks of advertising and personal appearances by its stars and director, is whether "The King's Speech" could possibly live up to the hype? The answer, I am pleased to say, is a resounding "Yes."
You can't blame me for being a little skeptical; after all, there can't be much left to tell that hasn't already been told of the events leading up to Britain's entry into the Second World War. This was an especially intriguing challenge for someone like myself who grew up watching documentaries about the war when it was still fresh in the memories of most working adults. My Mom, until quite recently, could probably still tell you where she was on the morning Pearl Harbor was attacked (visiting Aunt Tine) or when the Japanese surrendered four years later (in Baltimore, with a newborn baby).
The cast of characters were fairly familiar: there were Hitler, Mussolini and Emperor Hirohito on the other side, each, literally, a darker shade of despotism and militarism than the other. And, on our side there were Churchill and Roosevelt and most inexplicably -- Josef Stalin. In essence, the war was fought between two of the world's bloodiest political regimes, the successors to two destroyed monarchies, each of which were on the losing side of the previous European war (The Great War) that ended right after Mom was born some 92 and one-quarter years ago.
Ironically, it is the second cousin, once removed, of the two vanquished monarchs, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and Czar Nicholas of Russia, who is the subject of this year's highly regarded Best Picture nominee. Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George, Duke of York, is probably the least familiar of the heads of state to serve during the war, in part because he was upstaged by his colorful Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and in part because he died at the comparatively young age of 57 at which point, he was succeeded in rather grand fashion by the present occupant of the British throne, his daughter, Elizabeth.
Apparently, trying to explain the Royal Family to Americans has been a linchpin of British foreign policy for the past seventy years, ever since it became obvious that the two countries would be thrust, once again, into an uneasy military alliance at the close of the 1930s.
But, it hasn't been easy. Until this movie, Prince Albert, or "Bertie" as he was called within the family, played second fiddle to his older brother David, the dashing Duke of Windsor, in the hearts of many Americans. Even before David and his wife became a popular, if somewhat dotty, talk show act in the 1950s and early sixties, he was a popular Prince of Wales, a king, and the subject of a ragingly romantic abdication crisis.
That abdication crisis and its speech was the only King's Speech any American could recite even a few words of and, just about every school kid knew the phrase, "The Woman I Love" referred to an American who would be the present Queen of England but for some antiquated law against the King marrying a divorcee.
But, all of that was before the brief reign of Lady Diana Spencer as consort of the present Prince of Wales. Their very public marital difficulties and subsequent divorce really brings us full circle to the essential family tragedy which is at the bottom of "The King's Speech" -- the movie. And, that is that they are literally, a Victorian institution caught in the headlights of a modernity they took little active role in creating (other than the invention of the Windsor knot) and have been running to keep up with ever since.
The fish out of water aspect of the movie takes on even greater poignancy because Bertie gives every indication of being a warm human being, when given the chance to show it. The scenes with he and the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret-Rose, bring that home. But, his sense of duty to the throne and his complete unfamiliarity with the common touch nearly doom him in his efforts to overcome a speech impediment. In many ways, it is "My Fair Lady" in reverse. By the end the movie, it is difficult to suppress a silent "By Albert Frederick Arthur George, he's got it!"