The King's Speech

Dylan and I just got back from seeing The King's Speech.

Great movie! Definitely worthy of an Oscar, although I have not seen all of the other films that were nominated, so was it the best of the year? who knows.

I loved the story. I really had no idea really any of it happened, so I found it very intriguing. Apparently my pre/early WWII knowledge is a little slim in areas.

For those of you who don't know what the movie is about, it is about King George V and his two sons, Albert (Bertie, Colin Firth's character) and Edward. Albert has a speech impediment, and has always been afraid/unloved by his father and older brother. When King George V dies, Edward is next in line. Edward wants to marry an American who had been divorced twice, which was not allowed by the Church, so he abdicated the throne to Bertie, now King George VI. This all happens right before WWII fully starts. Hitler has begun his rise and Edward is a Hitler fan, where as Bertie/George is not. (Apparently there are a lot of other political aspects that are missing from the film that are part of real history, but it does get the core story across). So the King's Speech is the speech he gives once the war has been announced by parliament.

I really did enjoy the whole movie. A good amount of funny parts throughout, and you also emotionally connect to the characters really well. I was even super tired, having worked until 11:30 last night, and I wasn't tired during the movie at all.

It also made me want to take a full and thorough English history class, which I have always wanted to do. If anyone knows a good way for me to learn all about England without actually going to class and therefore having to take a test or write a paper, let me know.