The King's Speech

Haven't you seen it yet?
















This week we're going to watch it on the big screen. It's a good way of ending this long and exhausting term!! Fancy coming??



1. Read what the film is about

Written by David Seidler and directed by Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech is an enjoyable and absorbing true-life drama about the relationship between introverted  stammerer King George VI (Bertie) and his Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue.  These characters are played by Colin Firth as the afflicted monarch, Geoffrey Rush as the speech coach and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen who has learnt to like Logue. Bertie is too constrained, too clenched, too formal and too miserable. To untie his tongue he has to relax, but also to talk about what makes him unhappy.

Bertie is bullied by his father George V and overshadowed by his older brother David, a role performed by the actor Guy Pearce. The film also focuses on the abdication crisis of 1936 as David decides not to become the king because of his love for Mrs Simpson, a divorced American woman. 

When Logue’s methods get results, Bertie is delighted, and Logue becomes a sensational new royal favourite whose intimacy with the duke makes the Archbishop of Canterbury angry  (played by Derek Jacobi: a previous screen stammerer in the popular TV series  I, Claudius).  With Logue’s help, King George VI manages to address his nation on 4^th September  1939, the day after Britain declared war on Nazi Germany.

• Find three words naming members of  high social rank.
• Draw a family tree of the British Royal family at this time. Start with George V.
• Write a little paragraph explaining who was who. Start like this: George V was the King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. He was also the grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His father was Edward VII. George's wife was Princess May. They had six children...
• What is Bertie's problem?
• How is Bertie described in the text?

2. Find information about these relevant figures in the history of the UK and then, answer the questions

• Mrs Simpson: Why was she the cause of Edward VIII's abdication? How many times had she been married before?

• Edward VIII: What was his real, complete name? What title did he have after his abdication?
• Winston Churchill: When was he born? What political role did he play in England from 1940 to 1945?
• BBC: What does this abbreviation mean? Why is it so important in the film?

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