Rated R for scenes of the king using obscene language as part of his therapy.
The king has a speech impediment. He was openly mocked by his family and seems pitiful but he's still kind of a jerk at times.
His speech therapist insists on treating everyone as equals and calling "Bertie" by his nickname, but he's also aghast that King Edward was intent on marrying a divorcee and he casually suggests Bertie give him a knighthood.
It also muffs little things, like in one scene the royal family is watching a film of Hitler ranting in German, future Queen Elizabeth asks Edward what the dictator is saying and the King says he doesn't know, when in reality he was fluent in German (remember they were the cadet line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha before WWI forced them to rename as Windsor.)
ReplyDelete.....It's more than just live radio, the reigning monarch has to read the State Opening to Parliament every year, and there are endless events where the King or Queen not talking mangles them. We see a little of that early on. but not the full effect.
....And then there is the weird element of the production being that the room where Geoffery Rush ("Lionel Logue") runs his speech therapy business was also the set for a gay porn called "Snookered" around the same time. This was possible because the room is part of "33 Portland Place", which used to be a house but is now a rental for parties and films.