Boiled down to it’s core, The King’s Speech, directed by Tom Hooper of The Damned United, is the story of a budding relationship between a speech therapist and a king, a buddy film if you will. Unlikely circumstances bring the two together in a consociation that helps overcome obstacles at the most dire of times. It examines the events surrounding Albert Frederick Arthur George (King George VI), as his father, King George V, passes, his brother’s abdicates the throne, and the beginning of World War II against Hitler’s Germany. Bertie (as Albert Frederick Arthur George is known to friends and family) suffers from a severe speech impediment, and works faithfully in order to overcome it. For, as the film intimates, a country cannot gather a unified front against an enemy in war, without a man talented at public speaking leading them.

Of all the film’s wonderful assets, the most deserving of attention is the lovely cinematography of Danny Cohen, and Hooper’s remarkable ability to fill up a screen in the most pleasing compositions. The film, taking place in London, is filmed in the hazy grays we’ve come to associate with the rainy island, allowing for light manipulation that brings an atmosphere that nearly takes center stage over the actors and script. Hooper truly is a visual artist, I could spend a great deal of time, beyond the length of Speech looking at his framing on screen.

It helps the film as whole to have such an outstanding cast. The rumors of Helena Bonham Carter’s performance are everything they’ve purported, and more. She most certainly deserves some special attention from Oscar. It seems without the overbearing and zany vision of her husband, Tim Burton, she’s liberated to reach levels of acting we’ve only seen hints of in her earlier work. And Colin Firth, who showed us shades of his serious side in last year’s A Single Man, continues his path into territory reserved for the very best actors and actresses working today. Guy Pearce as Edward VIII, and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchhill offer strong performances in their supporting roles as well.

The screenplay, by David Seidler has such a surety in it’s direction, it manages to make Bertie’s triumph over his impediment eclipse, in importance, the gravitas of the real world events that keep brushing up against the king and his speech coach. At first glance, it seems a bit trivial to focus on the fluidity of a king’s speech when Nazi’s are waging war. But we know the outcome of that. And The King’s Speech doesn’t have any interest in making a statement about it. What it attempts to do it show a remarkable story of humanity and friendship, that just happens to be backdropped by world events relevant to everyone person the film will ever be seen by.  It succeeds admirably in all it’s undertakings. It really is the inspirational film of the year.

4 out of 4 stars

The story of A Single Man comes from the  novel of the same name by Christopher Irsherwood.  Mr. Ford shares writing credit with David Scearce for adapting.  It centers around one man, George, played by Colin Firth.  George is a mostly unremarkable man, an intelligent professor at a small college.  The most remarkable thing about him, surrounded by a community of intolerance at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, where everyone looks and dresses the same, is his sexual orientation.  He’s reeling from the loss of Jim (Matthew Goode), his partner of sixteen years.  The grief builds and builds and is quickly taking over all rational thought for George.

The film spans only one day, but lends itself to multiple flashbacks: the night he met Jim the first time, happier days, dream sequences.  Many of these flashbacks could be ripped out of the pages of Vogue, or another high-end fashion magazine (or an upscale homo-erotic publication, likely centered around a smoking fetish).  The vision of Ford seemed to be perfectly paired with cinematographer Eduard Grau who gave the film a polished touched that sets it apart from it’s peers.  A sweeping original score by Abel Korzeniowski compounds this effect.  Mr. Firth is in fine form here.  In fact, this may be a career high for him.  He’s proved once and for all that he can handle the trickiest of roles.

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace.  The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man.  Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices.  I promise, this is not the case here.  First time director Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise.  His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.  One of the film’s most remarkable scenes plays out between George and his friend Charly (Julianne Moore).  A quiet dinner, between two lonely souls who’ve had too much to drink, allows a brutal honesty to rage before quickly hiding itself again behind tact and manner.  It’s a prime example of all the emotions running just below the surface through the length of the movie, just dying to be set free.  Certainly, one of the best films of 2009.

4 out of 4 stars

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