Last Wednesday, CineVerse couldn't stop talking about "The King's Speech," the 2011 Best Picture Oscar winner that left many a viewer, well, speechless. Highlights of that discussion are as follows:
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO THIS FILM’S SUCCESS? WHAT MAKES IT
WORK AS WELL AS IT DOES?
·
It’s a period piece and costume drama like we’ve
seen before, but it’s different:
o it
demystifies the monarchy by bringing us into the private, warts and all life of
a member of the royal family;
o we
get to know him on a first-name basis and spend private moments with him,
making him more likeable and human and sympathetic as opposed to being stuffy
and inaccessible; class barriers are shattered
·
It’s essentially a “buddy picture” that
capitalizes on the “bromance” elements of bonding and friendship formed between
King George VI and therapist Lionel Logue.
·
It forces us to focus on an otherwise trivial
and unimportant little historical footnote instead of the front page news that
is hinted at and glossed over in the film
o you
could easily make several movies about how Britain is swept up into World War
II, or how brother Edward renounced his throne to marry the woman he loves;
o instead,
“The King’s Speech” spotlights a speech impediment and the relatively
inconsequential event of the monarch having to address his subjects via the
radio prior to the outbreak of war
·
The performances by Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush
and Helena Bonham Carter do most of the heavy lifting in this picture; the
casting of the 3 leads is absolutely crucial, and the filmmakers nailed it with
these 3 actors
·
The inspired choice of using the stirring second
movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony during the actual speech at the
conclusion was dead-on genius: it’s a perfect marriage of music, story and
performance, and the majesty of Beethoven’s peerless music gives gravitas to
the entire scene.
·
It tells, essentially, a timeless fable we’re
familiar with: Pygmalion, where a shrewd teacher tries to completely remold an
impaired subject
WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT THE VISUALS USED: THE FRAMING,
ANGLES, AND LIGHTING ESPECIALLY?
·
Unlike many other historical dramas that employ
soft lighting effects, this picture uses harsher light to “spotlight” the real
people and the challenges they faced; the result is a more modern look and
deeper emotional effect
·
Extra-wide lenses were used to help slightly
distort the King’s perspective, express his discomfort and depict the
oppressive environments he inhabited; consequently, we see longer, tighter,
sometimes more claustrophobic shots that underscore Albert’s feelings of being
trapped
·
Most of the picture was filmed indoors utilizing
narrow, oblong spaces, hallways and corridors, and tight confines; compare this
to many historical dramas where ample spaces are shot; in his review of the
film, Roger Ebert suggested: “I suspect (the filmmakers) may be evoking the
narrow, constricting walls of Albert’s throat as he struggles to get words
out.”
·
The filmmakers sometimes use off-center
compositions to suggest emotional as well as spatial distance between characters;
consider the scene where Albert is bunched up on the side of a couch at the
margin of the frame when he first meets with Logue
·
In some shots, the camera was placed extremely
close to the actor’s face(s) to record the raw emotion in their expressions.
The film’s cinematographer, Danny Cohen, said in an interview: “If you put a
lens 6 inches from somebody’s face, you get more emotion than if you’re on a
long lens 20 feet away.”
WHAT THEMES ARE EXAMINED IN THE KING’S SPEECH?
·
The importance of communication, the simple but
awesome power of the spoken word, and how the spoken word is the great
equalizer among all classes
·
The relationship between the organic (the human
voice) and the synthetic (technology, embodied by microphones, loudspeakers,
phonographs and radios
·
The relationship between technology and
humanity, two forces often shown in contrast and opposition to each other in
this movie; the microphone in some shots symbolizes a cold, detached,
impersonal and dehumanizing tool, yet it holds the key to getting the message
across effectively to the masses
OTHER MOVIES BROUGHT TO MIND BY “THE KING’S SPEECH”
·
The Queen
·
My Fair Lady / Pygmalion
·
The Young Victoria (2009)
·
The Iron Lady (2011)
·
Mrs. Brown (1997, about Queen Victoria)
OTHER WORKS BY DIRECTOR TOM HOOPER
·
John Adams (HBO miniseries)
·
Les Miserables (2012 musical)
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