qz thoughtsThe King's Speech
The King's Speech (2010)at IMDB
A stuttering royal in the age of radio makes for difficult time. Colin Firth (who becomes King George IV somewhere around halfway through the movie) seems to always land roles that involve him being embarassed. I think back to Love Actually where he pleads for a woman to marry him in front of a large audience. I remember the horrible sweater in Bridget Jone's Diary. Pretty much the whole role in Nanny McPhee.
Here the role again calls for embarassment. How can he have a role in public, when he can barely utter a sentence? The times he does need to speak to crowds, to radio audiences, to his own family, he stuggles through every phrase.
The possibility that his brother will abdicate and leave the throne to him is terrifying. The radio equipment looked very impressive to me. Huge boxes and even details like the hand-made look to some of the microphone stands. The imagery of the microphones becoming significant in showing them as instruments of psychological torture for "Bertie".
I don't know how accurate the story is, or how accurate the acting is, but the story is very well told. And not just the parts acted by Mr Darcy. My wife found the Wormtail Churchill casting amusing.
Six thistles in a seive full of sifted thistles out of seven thistles in a seive full of sifted thistles sifted by a thistle sifter.
Final thought: if you don't know: Colin Firth has had two roles (one in two movies) playing a Mr Darcy