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The King's Speech... Amazing film

marillion said:
As I stated in the other thread, I totally agree with your comment about Spall. As we chuckled about yet ANOTHER member of the Harry Potter cast being featured in the movie, my friend leaned over to me and commented that the acting pool in England must be shrinking every year.
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Oddly enough, Brendan Gleeson (Mad Eye Moody) gave a fairly decent performance as Churchill in Into the Storm a year before The King's Speech was made.

The best Churchill I've seen (somewhat) recently, though, was Albert Finney in 2002's The Gathering Storm.
 
Saw this last night and frankly I can't think of a single bad thing to say about it, and the more I think about that the more I can't recall the last time I thought a film was this perfect. Firth, Rush, Bonham-Carter were all absolutely fantastic. Guy Pearce was uncanny as Edward, aw hell the whole cast was brilliant, although I would agree about Spall. I do think Churchill is a tough act, too easy to do it as a caricature, but I thought Spall stayed just the right side of it.

I too loved Bertie's reaction to Hitler, hating the man but admiring his ability to speak.

Much as I hate the notion of actors winning an oscar by playing a character with a disability, but I really hope Firth gets it, and frankly I think Bonham Carter and Rush should get awards too if there's any justice.
 
Starkers said:
Saw this last night and frankly I can't think of a single bad thing to say about it,
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I can. It's ridiculous to portray Churchill as being out to install Prince Albert on the throne. The man was King Edward's ally during the abdication crisis.
 
Film in not 100% historically accurate shocker!

I'm sorry if that one minute scene ruined the two hour film for you...
 
Starkers said:
Film in not 100% historically accurate shocker!

I'm sorry if that one minute scene ruined the two hour film for you...
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It didn't. It was a wonderful film. But that specific decision did irritate me, because it wasn't true to what kind of person Churchill was.

But the main point was just that I could think a single thing wrong with it. That's about it, though -- just that single thing. Everything else was great. ;)
 
Colin Firth won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a movie drama. The Social Network won the Best Drama Golden Globe.
 
scotpens said:
Starkers said:
Much as I hate the notion of actors winning an oscar by playing a character with a disability . . .
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Oh? Why is that?
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There is a widely held belief that if you want an Oscar, then playing a character with a disability or else playing a character whilst wearing facial prosthetics is the way to go!

I guess such roles do offer more opportunity for actual acting, but its got to the point where such roles are identified long in advance, sometimes even before filming commences, as Oscar bait to the point where sometimes the actual performance doesn't even have to be that good.

I'd like the best actor to win, irrespective of the role he/she is playing, and I also think there should be more reasons for making a film about a disability than the desire to nab awards.

Of course you could argue that so long as a film raises awareness of an issue it doesn't matter what the reasoning behind it is, and that Hollywood is there primarily to make money/win awards, and I guess you'd be right :)
 
I saw this last night and thought it was excellent. In what I think is a very strong year for probable Best Picture Oscar nominees (Toy Story 3, Black Swan, Inception, True Grit, The Fighter, The Social Network), this has gone top of my list. Hopefully, Firth will follow up his Golden Globe win with the Oscar.
 
I just saw the film today. I thought it was really quite splendid. It was a wonderful drama that nicely focused on character development. For a historical piece, it was a nice change of pace to have the film be so character-driven and not necessarily story-driven.

There has been a lot of praise for the actors, and I can't say enough without rambling superlatives, but all of the actors present in the film give exquisite performances. Colin Firth, for example, really holds the film firm on his shoulders. He gives a really multi-faceted, almost vulnerable portrayal of King George that makes him inherently empathetic and amiable. Geoffrey Rush was also wonderfully splendid as Lionel Logue, and I really bought his friendship with King George. I would say that their friendship is the centerpiece of the film, and the driving force in which the film strives. I think had the film focused on the trivialities of the plot, or the historical accuracy of the time period, it would have been burdened with a superficial story, but instead the ending had wonderful emotional significance thanks to the wonderfully developed dynamic between King George and Logue.

Helena Bonham Carter was also surprisingly good, and it was refreshing to see her play such a grounded, decent character for a change (it was also interesting to see a young portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, since I'm so accustomed to see older portrayals like Helen Mirren in The Queen). I would agree that Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill was a bit over-the-top, and in fact his facial gestures made me unintentionally laugh a few times during the film. I hadn't realized until after seeing the film that Spall, Carter and Michael Gambon have roles in Harry Potter. I think that's a testament to how those films have plucked so many performers from the British acting repository. It was also nice to see such talented actors, such as Guy Pearce (who I haven't seen in a good film in a while) and the aforementioned Michael Gambon in decent supporting roles.

Overall, it was a highly enjoyable, charming and entertaining film with a lot of quiet, introspective, emotional moments that felt genuine and authentic. Definitely one of the best films of 2010.
 
Sorry to correct you JA but Carter played Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon...Queen Elizabeth II's mother, otherwise known as The Queen Mum. Unless of course you are talking about the young actress who actually does play Princess Elizabeth lol...then my bad ;)
 
JacksonArcher said:
He gives a really multi-faceted, almost vulnerable portrayal of King George that makes him inherently empathetic and amiable. [\QUOTE]
The "I'm just a naval officer" scene was, I thought, particularly touching - Helena Bonham-Carter was excellent there too.


JacksonArcher said:
I hadn't realized until after seeing the film that Spall, Carter and Michael Gambon have roles in Harry Potter. I think that's a testament to how those films have plucked so many performers from the British acting repository.
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Is Michael Caine the only major British actor *not* to have appeared in the Harry Potter series?

Admiral_Young said:
Sorry to correct you JA but Carter played Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon...Queen Elizabeth II's mother, otherwise known as The Queen Mum. Unless of course you are talking about the young actress who actually does play Princess Elizabeth lol...then my bad ;)
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I took it as the former meaning, but it I have found myself performing some strange mental gymnastics figuring out how to think and refer to some of the characters: "The Queen" and "the Queen Mother" are very different people to who I'd normally refer to in that way.

dJE
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Scrawny71 said:
Saw it today. Would like to see Oscar nods for Bonham-Carter and Rush too.
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Oh definitely, and can two actors from the same film both be nominated for the same category? Because if so I'd love to see Pearce up for best supporting actor too! (though Rush has to win obviously!)
 
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