King George VI of England is a reluctant monarch, having been crowned in 1937 after his brother abdicated in order to marry a twice-divorced woman (an absolute no-no for English monarchs). Moreover, George suffers from an acute stutter that has resisted treatment, an affliction made even more painful by the growth of radio—English kings must now give speeches that will be broadcast around the world. In desperation, George has enlisted the help of a speech therapist named Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush), whose eccentric personality and unconventional methods are yielding results.
The situation quickly worsens for our beleaguered King. In September of 1939 an overmatched and ill-prepared Great Britain finds itself at war with an unstoppable Nazi Germany, and the King must now give a radio address to rally and assure his nervous dominions. It is a pivotal moment, and the pressure on the stuttering George to deliver is enormous.
Our clip begins with the climactic moment in the film, the titular King’s Speech.Please begin by watching and then analyzing this clip, with a particular emphasis on the soundtrack, a famous excerpt from Beethoven’s Symphony #7.
Please address the following prompt:
How does this connect with our discussion/reading on the intersection of classical music in popular culture?
In addition, here are some things you might want to consider, though feel free to go in any direction you want:
Why did the director choose this music to accompany the filmâs central scene?
What does the music add to the scene? How well would this scene work without the music?
Looking forward to our final film unit, what other filmmaking elements make this scene so powerful?
PS: this is a great film, and an example of popular culture as a purveyor of history.