"The King`s Speech": Movie Review

The movie, the King’s Speech, deals with England’s Prince and Duke Albert, that suffers from stuttering and is unable to give speeches and represent the royal family. As he has to ascend the throne of his father and become the new King of England, he tries to overcome his speaking disabilities with the support of Lionel Logue, a speech therapist. After many failed previous therapies, Logue helps him to mainly overcome his issues, not only based on therapy but friendship and trust. Even though they may have some troubles, in the beginning, the methods used by Logue are useful to improve his speaking skills.

Speech Therapy from Logue is based on different approaches. First of all, he clarifies that there has to be equality and trust between the two of them, to make the therapy work. Besides that, he also insists to discuss personal matters about the Duke’s past, to understand the development of his stuttering.

Also, with physical exercises, and breath relaxation, for example, he tries to make himself loosen up. Throughout the movie, Logue repeatedly stresses how important personal reflection is to discover the root of the problems.

Later on, in the movie, they discuss the different issues from the Duke’s past that affected him. He has been forced to become right-handed, got teased, had to wear metal splints on his legs, got abused by his nanny, and lost his one brother because of epilepsy. All of these experiences from the past contributed to the speaking problems that developed when he was still a young boy. In regards to this, they also realize that the Duke has more issues speaking to his brother and family members, than Logue.

In preparation for a big speech towards the end of the movie, Logue gives him the advice to purely focus on himself rather than comparing himself to his brother or father and to always get insecurities about thinking about the past.

Towards the end of the movie, the Duke (now King) finds out that Logue is not a certified therapist and confronts him about that. However, even though he admits this, he lets him know that he has experience as an actor in helping people get back to their voice after World War I. The most important part is to “let people speak and let them know someone was listening”.

In one of the last scenes of the movie, he has to give a long speech, with the help of Logue. After using the techniques of loosening up, in facts like dancing and swearing, he prepares himself for the speech. Besides that, Logue is helping him in order of creating a safe space for him, where he is feeling more confident to speak, and enclosed from other people. Another piece of advice is to imagine that he is giving the speech to Logue as a friend, instead of imagining giving it to thousands of people. With this help, he manages to achieve an almost stutter-free speech and address the issues going on in the country. Throughout the whole movie, he also has his wife and daughters to talk to and to open up about his issues and concerns.

In conclusion, it can be said that everyone can improve their public speaking skills, “as long as they want to be cured”. However, to achieve this, many steps and some effort are important. Trust, self-confidence, and friendship are really important to overcome these speaking limitations and gain public speaking skills. Besides this, the release of pressure and anxiety is key. However, no matter how bad it is, with practice and patience, everyone can become a public speaker and find their voice.