The King's Speech

THE KING' S SPEECH

Star cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter.

Plot: In pre-World War II Britain, The Duke of York is poised to become the King since his brother, King Edward VIII, abdicates the throne. But the Duke can’t make public broadcasts as he stammers. He hires a doctor to help him with the stammer.

 In an interesting manner, the film brings out  the heartfelt story of a disabled royal and his efforts to overcome the disability. The audience is able to relate to the Duke’s feeling of helplessness and feel inspired by his momentous struggle.  Also, the relationship between the protagonist (Firth) and his speech therapist (Rush) is the highlight of the film. To hold the viewers competely mesmerized is the intricate details of  human behavior peppered with dialogues crisp with wry humour and irony. Besides the masterful display of acting of the characters and the splendid hold on story-line; the depiction of the inner workings of the British Royal family in the bygone era is real and interesting. On the whole, the story is something that obviously appeals to English-speaking audience globally.

When you read a good book or watch a well-made movie, it stays with you for much much longer! 'The King's Speech' turned out to be one such experience for me.  What leaves me pondering over the subject is the indelible impression that certain awful incidents can leave on our subconscious mind. Bertie was unfortunate as a child to be taken care of a  psychopathic nanny who was irregular with his feeding time and would pinch him often before handing him to the Queen. All this led to the beginning of  speech concerns and long lasting stomach problems in Bertie. To add to the grim effect, Bertie, on the approval of his father, was sometimes locked into splints, to straighten his legs; and made to use his right hand, though he was born left-handed. All this reinforces the impression from the film that Bertie developed a stutter at least partly due to sheer terror of his father eventually leading to the full-blown severe stammer problem, which was to cause him severe pain even into adulthood. It is interesting to note that Bertie faces stammering problem with the phonetic sounds of  'k' and 'q' of king and queen, something that can be assciated with the royalty.


If in the role of Bertie's wife we find an understanding and supportive wife who infuses confidence in him; we also encounter Edward's penchant for mature, married women and are left wondering if it didn't perversely stem from his own childhood nanny experiences!!


The movie, in a way penetrates into deeper psychological impact that our childhood memories have on the development of our personality. The film not only diagnoses the problem related to human behavior; it also guides us to believe in ourselves if we choose to overcome the flaws. A firm belief in one's capabilites and a true friend to help you sail through hard times- is all one needs to rise above the shortcomings. It is also evident from the speech therapy sessions that we are more inclined to fail in our attempts when we are too conscious of our flaws.


 The amazing success of 'The King's Speech' therefore can be credited to its motivating theme, which has a lesson for all of us. Whether we believe it or not, all of us are flawed in someway or the other – whether it is nature, nurture – whatever!  The trick is in overcoming the obstacles and injustices that we encounter along the way. The trick is in finding the most suitable way to deal with our shortcomings and stretching ourselves out of comfort zone to greet success in our lives.


Deepak Chopra, in his excellent little book called, The Soul of Leadership writes that, ’At the Soul level, all Souls are equal.  It’s the roles we play that enforce the illusion of inequality’.  To witness a King go through therapy on the big screen, gives each of us hope, in the sure knowledge that King or commoner, we all have our trials and tribulations to bear.  At the end of the day,  it is not really who we are, or what we are, or even what we have endured that is important, but who we can ultimately become in this particular life.