On the way to see The King’s Speech we discussed Colin Firth. For me he’s always Darcy, but Sarah said he played a very different character in Single Man. I haven’t seen that film so I can’t comment.
But in this film he definitely wasn’t just playing another Darcy type character. His acting was so believable as Bertie/King George VI that I found myself really drawn into the story and the emotional highs and lows as he dealt with his frustration and embarrassment at his speech defect. The relationship between Bertie and Lionel Logue (played brilliantly by Geoffrey Rush) was wonderful, very funny at times but also very touching.
There are so many great British actors in this film, including Helena Bonham Carter (Queen Elizabeth), Michael Gambon (King George V), Timothy Spall (Winston Churchill), Anthony Andrews (Stanley Baldwin) and it was also lovely to see little Ramona Marquez (from Outnumbered) playing a cheeky Princess Margaret against the more serious Princess Elizabeth.
I really enjoyed this film. I’m not surprised that it has been nominated for so many Oscars, I hope it picks up at least a few of them on the night.