A person who considers himself civilized ought to be able to admit when they are wrong. When it comes to reacting to a piece of art (often a strong word in cinema but applicable just the same) it’s difficult to be flat wrong. I had another article all written about the best films of 2010. It was (I flatter myself) a sharply witted entry. But my reaction to the film that took home the Oscar for best picture was just wrong. There’s no other way to slice it. I didn’t “get it”.
When I saw The King’s Speech, I had a very hard time giving a shit. The actors in the film were all talented, and turned in their usual charming performance (especially Colin Firth who is always fun to watch no matter what craptastic adaptation of a musical he happens to be in). The story itself, removed from the striding history that engulfs the characters is interesting in its own right; but I was unmoved.
I, as an arrogant American, don’t give a shit who’s king of what. I barely respect my own president. I mean, after all, he works for me. So what the hell did I care if some rich asshole in the country Winston Churchill brought through WW2 had a stutter? It’s really an indictment of the people listening to the stutterer that they can’t let go of the speaker’s difficulties talking and focus what is being said. Even noticing a stutter is at worst in poor taste and at best an irrelevancy. And if you are king, you are king whether you stutter or not. And I also thought had this man not been born to his specific parents; nobody would give a rat’s ass. All these thoughts kept me from simply enjoying the story which was not without its charm. But, that’s on me. I didn’t get it.
The thing is; the who, what, where, and why of this film don’t really matter. That Colin Firth is the King of England is not important. What is important is that the film is history’s window. The filmmakers had diaries, correspondence, even birthday gifts exchanged between the teacher and his pupil. This could have been a story about any two people. This movie is literally like stepping through a photograph to another era. It is looking through drawings on the cave wall and seeing the artist. The story is of a teacher and a student and friends; and it’s real. It’s a real window on two real people from an age (even though relatively recent) that haunts us. It was an age where heroes and villains were larger than life and strode the earth like titans.
So yes, I missed the point. I get it now. While it’s not the best film of 2010; The King’s Speech is special. The first time I saw it; I was unmoved. Now, I can barely watch it without being moved. To reach through a photograph and touch history is an achievement.