[Feature] The King's Speech: After the hype.

After the, what seemed to be, endless months of praising, celebrating and encouraging this film, I still hadn't gone and seen The King's Speech at the cinema. For reasons I can't quite pin down, the fact of the matter is I just didn't buy a ticket. Not through some sort of pretentious rebelling, not allowing myself to get caught up in the hype, and not because I was SO busy I just didn't have the time of day to see it, I just didn't. 

But now I have. I sat down in front of the TV, put it in the DVD player and watched this film. I have to admit, I was so excited because this truly seemed to be a phenomenon when it was released. I didn't see a review lower than 4 stars, and whoever I spoke to about it seemed to rave. The award ceremonies didn't disagree with any of that either. So, all this expectation and what for? Quite a positive reaction actually. 

It's a thoroughly entertaining film on all accounts. The story is moving, the dialogue is witty and the acting is "just splendid", to quote the film. Adding to all this, I think my favourite thing about the whole movie was the direction of it. The movement of the camera, the editing of the shots and the framing is beautiful. I almost watched it again just to admire the gorgeousness of it. Tom Hooper deserves all the glory he received. 

What's pleasing after watching it is the fact that it's a genuinely good film, not one of those who gets caught up in the excitement and then forgotten about. You could watch this film over and over again and not get bored. The storyline isn't too intense, and I'm sure you'd notice new things in each scene every time you watched it. The fact that it stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter puts the cherry on top of the cake. Actually, what DID put the cherry on the cake was the little girl from Outnumbered, Ramona Marquez. That girl is lovely. 

You should remind yourself of this great feature and watch it again. It's a beautiful and heartwarming film, as you probably are well aware. It oozes Britishness and makes you proud to be a part of the nation this film belongs to. There's enough eccentricity in it to not make Britain seem to middle-class, but enough seriousness to keep our reserved nature flowing.