Posts tagged Prince Albert
“The King’s Speech” Bertie’s Greatest Test
Jan 6th
“Bertie’s Greatest Test”
THE KING’S SPEECH portrays the unusual events in 1930s England that led to the coronation of the father of the current Queen Elizabeth to become King George VI, but more importantly the difficult personal struggle that the king went through in order to be able to speak in public.
As hard as it is to feel sorry for a king, this delightful film makes the audience feel sorry for the stammering monarch who was known as Bertie to his family, as well as to feel admiration for the three actors who portray Bertie, his speech therapist, and his supportive wife.
Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter play the three roles, and all of them have been mentioned for awards for their fine acting performances.
The story begins in 1934, and Prince Albert, the Duke of York, has been asked by his father, King George V, to give an address at Wembley Stadium in London. To watch him struggle is as painful to the audience in the theater as it must have been to the crowd in the stadium.
So, Bertie and his wife, Elizabeth, see various speech therapists with no success until Elizabeth finds Lionel Logue, an Australian self-taught therapist.
Elizabeth tells him that her husband has a terrible stammer and is required to speak in public, to which Lionel says, “Perhaps he should change jobs.”
Elizabeth tells Lionel that her husband cannot change jobs and then reveals her husband’s identity by saying, “And what if my husband were the Duke of York?”
Lionel’s methods are controversial, he and the duke must treat each other as equals, and all sessions must take place in Lionel’s rooms–no exceptions.
When King George V dies, Bertie’s older brother, David, becomes king, but he shirks his duties and doesn’t want to be king if he can’t marry the woman he loves, which he can’t, because she is twice divorced, and as head of the Church of England, the king cannot marry a divorced woman.
And, of course, the winds of war are increasing in Europe, and when England declares war with Germany, the new king, that is to say our old Bertie, must be able to give a stirring speech on live radio to the British people.
THE KING’S SPEECH is an excellent film all around of Bertie’s greatest test.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The King’s Speech – Movie Trailer
Jan 6th
After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle. Based on the true story of King George VI, THE KING’S SPEECH follows the Royal Monarch’s quest to find his voice.
The Social Network – Movie Trailer
Oct 1st
Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) teams with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) to explore the meaning of success in the early 21st century from the perspectives of the technological innovators who revolutionized the way we all communicate. The year was 2003. As prohibitively expensive technology became affordable to the masses and the Internet made it easy to stay in touch with people who were halfway across the world, Harvard undergrad and computer programming wizard Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) launched a website with the potential to alter the very fabric of our society. At the time, Zuckerberg was just six years away from making his first million. But his hearty payday would come at a high price, because despite all of Zuckerberg’s wealth and success, his personal life began to suffer as he became mired in legal disputes, and discovered that many of the 500 million people he had friended during his rise to the top were eager to see him fall. Chief among that growing list of detractors was Zuckerberg’s former college friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), whose generous financial contributions to Facebook served as the seed that helped the company to sprout. And some might argue that Zuckerberg’s bold venture wouldn’t have evolved into the cultural juggernaut that it ultimately became had Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) not spread the word about Facebook to the venture capitalists from Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) engage Zuckerberg in a fierce courtroom battle for ownership of Facebook that left many suspecting the young entrepreneur might have let his greed eclipse his better judgment. The Social Network was based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich.
