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January 2011, Week 5

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Subject:
From:
Norman Holland <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:38:37 -0500
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Let me suggest another angle on THE KING'S SPEECH.  I think it's not just
the story (true or doctored) of George VI's stutter.  I think it's good to
recognize that this film plays a virtual symphony on the idea of the way we
humans communicate to one another or, more accurately, how we manifest
ourselves to other humans.  There is the stuttering, of course, but also:

Demosthenes' cure for stuttering;
the father's harsh rebukes;
the uniforms and regalia;
the huge rooms of Buckingham Palace
the whole pomp and ceremony of majesty,
the King's Rolls Royce (so attractive to the street urchins);
Logue's dingy quarters;
Edward's telephone calls to Mrs. Wallace;
George V's dying words;
Logue's concealing his client's identity from his wife;
the Queen's having tea with Mrs. Logue
Westminster Cathedral;
the royal carriage;
loudspeakers, the wireless;
chldren's stories;
being "on a first-name basis";
HItler's speechifying;
four-letter words;
the archbishop's trying to outflank Logue;
the rituals of coronation;
Churchill's confession;  etc., etc.,

and, of course, the King's several speeches.

Considered this way, I think one finds in the film an imaginative richness
that may explain the public's and the Oscar voters' enthusiasm.

                      --With warm regards,

                                   Norm
Norm Holland
 [log in to unmask]

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