This film has had almost universal acclaim...
The 'New Republic' magazine published the most unusual review of this film that I have seen. What I liked about it was the demand for historical authenticity, hardly a bar that the film industry has had to surmount- until now.
It is worth reading before you decide to see the flick...here is part:
1. The movie has been nominated for just about every existing award, and a bevy of Oscar nominations are forthcoming. The period drama is also on its way to financial success.
2. The Kings Speech is historically inaccurate, entirely misleading, and, in its own small way, morally dubious.
3. The film tells the story of King George VI (Colin Firth) and his battle with a speech impediment. Bertie, as he was known, seeks the help of a speech therapist (played by Geoffrey Rush), and the two spend most of the filmdifferences in social status be damnedbonding.
4. The only reason that Bertie managed to ascend to the throne in the first place was that his older brother, David (aka Edward VIII), decided to abdicate so he could marry a Baltimore divorcee by the name of Wallis Simpson. In the film, Edward VIII (nicely played by Guy Pearce) is presented as childish and cruel to his brother (which no doubt he was).
5. And, as a way of presenting his political views, we see him make a single foolish comment about the Nazis. What the film never mentions is that Edward VIII was an ardent admirer of Hitler and of fascism, and a proponent of appeasement long after Germany moved onto Polish soil and hostilities began in earnest. Edward lived in continental Europe with Simpson after abdicating; following the German invasion of France, he absurdly asked the Nazis to look after his house.
6. Bertie himself is also romanticized. He is seen presciently raising the question of German aggression before the invasion of the Sudetenland. Edward waves off Berties warning, and, the next time we are instructed to focus on political questions, the King is heroically rallying his people to the battle against fascism. The film leaves out what happened in the intervening period.
7. Bertie ascended to the throne at the end of 1936. Three years later, he gives the speech of the films title. In the time between these two events, the British government notoriously blundered and appeased the Nazis, most famously at Munich. Less well-remembered is that after Prime Minister Chamberlain returned from giving away a chunk of Europe to the Germans, he was immediately invited to Buckingham Palace to appear on the balcony with the King and Queen (the latter is now better known as the recently departed but beloved Queen Mum).
8. This was both a violation of protocolthe Royals are supposed to stay out of politicsand an extraordinary endorsement of a prime minister whose foreign policy was disastrous. Much of the Labour Party was rightly furious. This despicable historical fact is less well-known than it should be, but the film fails twicefirst, by not showing it at all, and, second, by implying that Bertie was staunchly anti-fascist from the start.
9. ...The Kings Speech has taken things a step further by not only simplifying its story but grossly misrepresenting real events and people.
?The King?s Speech? Is An Ugly Distortion Of History | The New Republic
So, do you feel that there is a need for accuracy, or does art have the right, the license to alter history as it sees the need?
Need one support the production, and ignore the reality?
The 'New Republic' magazine published the most unusual review of this film that I have seen. What I liked about it was the demand for historical authenticity, hardly a bar that the film industry has had to surmount- until now.
It is worth reading before you decide to see the flick...here is part:
1. The movie has been nominated for just about every existing award, and a bevy of Oscar nominations are forthcoming. The period drama is also on its way to financial success.
2. The Kings Speech is historically inaccurate, entirely misleading, and, in its own small way, morally dubious.
3. The film tells the story of King George VI (Colin Firth) and his battle with a speech impediment. Bertie, as he was known, seeks the help of a speech therapist (played by Geoffrey Rush), and the two spend most of the filmdifferences in social status be damnedbonding.
4. The only reason that Bertie managed to ascend to the throne in the first place was that his older brother, David (aka Edward VIII), decided to abdicate so he could marry a Baltimore divorcee by the name of Wallis Simpson. In the film, Edward VIII (nicely played by Guy Pearce) is presented as childish and cruel to his brother (which no doubt he was).
5. And, as a way of presenting his political views, we see him make a single foolish comment about the Nazis. What the film never mentions is that Edward VIII was an ardent admirer of Hitler and of fascism, and a proponent of appeasement long after Germany moved onto Polish soil and hostilities began in earnest. Edward lived in continental Europe with Simpson after abdicating; following the German invasion of France, he absurdly asked the Nazis to look after his house.
6. Bertie himself is also romanticized. He is seen presciently raising the question of German aggression before the invasion of the Sudetenland. Edward waves off Berties warning, and, the next time we are instructed to focus on political questions, the King is heroically rallying his people to the battle against fascism. The film leaves out what happened in the intervening period.
7. Bertie ascended to the throne at the end of 1936. Three years later, he gives the speech of the films title. In the time between these two events, the British government notoriously blundered and appeased the Nazis, most famously at Munich. Less well-remembered is that after Prime Minister Chamberlain returned from giving away a chunk of Europe to the Germans, he was immediately invited to Buckingham Palace to appear on the balcony with the King and Queen (the latter is now better known as the recently departed but beloved Queen Mum).
8. This was both a violation of protocolthe Royals are supposed to stay out of politicsand an extraordinary endorsement of a prime minister whose foreign policy was disastrous. Much of the Labour Party was rightly furious. This despicable historical fact is less well-known than it should be, but the film fails twicefirst, by not showing it at all, and, second, by implying that Bertie was staunchly anti-fascist from the start.
9. ...The Kings Speech has taken things a step further by not only simplifying its story but grossly misrepresenting real events and people.
?The King?s Speech? Is An Ugly Distortion Of History | The New Republic
So, do you feel that there is a need for accuracy, or does art have the right, the license to alter history as it sees the need?
Need one support the production, and ignore the reality?
