Yesterday, I watched The King’s Speech for the second time. The movie chronicles Prince Albert’s efforts to overcome his stammer as he ascends to the throne and becomes King George VI. This becomes particularly important once World War II begins and he feels compelled to give encouraging speeches during a frightening and uncertain time. As usual, there are spoiler alerts in this review, so proceed with caution if you haven’t seen the movie.
Prince Albert (played by Colin Firth) has tried one speech therapist after another and still struggles with a stammer. Eventually, he meets Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush) and finds that Logue’s ideas actually help him. They spend a great deal of time working on a variety of exercises designed to help Albert speak more fluently, including breath work, tongue twisters, singing, swearing, and speaking without being able to hear his voice. Many of these techniques involve getting Albert out of his own way and proving to himself that he is capable of speaking clearly and confidently.
As a result of his sessions with Logue, Albert’s speeches improve tremendously. However, he is still lacking in confidence, especially around his father and brother. His anxiety makes his stammer worse and makes him feel like he’s back to square one. The death of his father and his brother’s ascension to the throne compound these feelings and cause him to lash out in anger at Logue, thus ending their sessions. After some time passes, his brother abdicates the throne, making Prince Albert the next king. As George VI, he visits Logue and apologizes for his outburst.
Things start going smoothly for a while after their reconciliation until George discovers that Logue isn’t actually a doctor. Despite never claiming to be a doctor, Logue also never explicitly denied being one. When he learns this, George has a crisis of confidence and begins to fall apart shortly before his coronation. Once again, Logue makes him get out of his own way and restores his confidence. This proves critical when the time comes for George to make his first wartime speech. Logue makes notes in the speech so George knows when to add certain inflections or pauses, both to help with his stammer and to add dramatic weight to the speech. This preparation, along with some silent coaching from Logue, allows George to smoothly deliver the speech, much to his relief.
The King’s Speech is wonderfully made. It contains solid performances from the entire cast, music that perfectly matches the mood of each scene, and cinematography fit for a king. What puts it over the top for me is the central message of hope for anyone who has trouble speaking. I’ve had a lot of trouble with this in my life. At various times, I have stuttered, interrupted myself mid-sentence, spoken too quickly or too quietly, and slurred my words. Sometimes I still do these things. However, by using a variety of techniques, including writing out a lot of my ideas before discussing them, speaking to a wide variety of people in social settings, slowing down when I talk, giving a few short speeches, speaking a lot at my current job, and learning how to calm myself down, I’ve become a lot more more comfortable speaking to other people and I’ve also gotten a lot better at it. I’d say I can now speak more fluently and clearly than ever before. Just like George VI, getting out of my own way allows the words to flow without issue. That’s why I loved seeing this movie and its inspiring message again. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, then I highly recommend checking it out.