The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. (IMDB)
Britishness
What makes a film British?
- There is a cultural test from the UK Film Council, which tells if the film is British or not.
- There are 31 points to achieve. You must have passed 16 to be accepted.
You get points for 4 sections
- Cultural content
The movie was filmed in the UK, It has British Actors/ Actresses, it was filmed in the English Language or has a British subject matter.
- Cultural contribution
Reflects British culture
- Cultural Hubs
Music and effects done in the UK
- Cultural practitioners
People who worked in the movie are from BritainHow does The Kings Speech comply to the Brtishness?
Cultural context
Places filmed: Halton House, Halton, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK
Draper's Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, Broadgate, London, England, UK
Wendover Woods, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
33 Portland Place, Marylebone, London, England, UK
Avenue Garden , Regent Park, London, England, UK
Battersea Power Station, Battersea, London, England, UK
Elland Road Stadium, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England UK
Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertforshire, England, UK
Ely Cathedral, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Englefield House, Theale, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK
Grattan Stadium, Odsal, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Harley Street, Marylebone, London, England, UK
Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertforshire, England, UK
Knebworth House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Lancaster House, The Mall, St. James's, London, England, UK
Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, England, UK
Pullens Estate, Southwark, London, England, UK
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum, Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Actors/ Actresses:
Cultural context
Actors/ Actresses:
Colin Firth-UK Born
Helena Bonham Carter- UK Born
Derek Jacobi- UK born
Geoffrey Rush- Australian born
The Kings speech does have British born actors/ actresses in it apart from Geoffrey Rush who is an Australian actor and producer, this would lose points for the Britishness of the film.
The film was filmed in the English language, and has the subject matter of the royal monarchy of Great Britain, this would gain point for the film making it more British.
Cultural contribution
In order for the film to get points to become a British film, there needs to be a reflection of some British culture. The film concerns the Royal Monarchy of Great Britain, which is part of the British Culture! This would mean the film could gain points as it reflects the problems King George faces becoming the King of Britain. It also reflects the war and the lifestyle of the monarchy.
Cultural Hub
To gain points in this section, all the special effects and music tracks would have to be done in the UK. Research shows that the music was added at Abbey Park Road Studios in London, this is in Britain making it a cultural hub of the Britishness involved in making the movie. The special effects were added by Molinare Tv and Drama who are based in London! this also contributes to the amount of points the fiolm would have got for the Britishness involved.
Exhibition
The Kings speech had a budget of £8million ($15million) to work with, this was considered a low budget, and normally films with a low budget don't do well. However, a surprising $414,211,549 was made at the box office and gained £3.52 million at the opening weekend. Which is more then the opening gross of Pride and Prejudice (£2.53 million).
The film had an appeal to a wider audience, this was because of the British factors involved in the film. It is about the royal family near the beginning of the second world war. Also the class system, which Britain was well known for, was starting to break down. The sense of national unity was shown through the friendship of George and Lionel. The film doesn't just have the appeal to the British audience, but the American aswell. American audiences love the British Culture.
Critic Philip French of the Guardian gave the film a high rating and said that the kings speech was "the work of highly talented artists who might be regarded as British realists" He praised the film for not being triumphalist or sentimental.
However, Critic of The Times said "Hooper's framing and shot composition leave something to be desired" and that "Guy Pearce ( who plays Edward VIII) is too young for the part and doesn't sound English at all. Timothy Spall as Churchill resembles a distended bulldog who's been chewing wasps, and that the characters of Helena Bonham Carter and Jennifer Ehle are under used"
The Kings Speech had 8 production companies working with them to create a top hit film for the big screen, those of which include Weinstein Company, UK Film Council, Momentum Pictures, Aegia Film Fund, Molinare Investment, FilmNation Entertainment, see0saw films and Bedlam Productions. None of these production companies had created big movies before, therefore they could invest a big amount of money into the film. Despite this it was a success which contradicts the big six film companies stereotypical making the most money on films.
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It received nominations for 12 oscars including best picture, best director, best supporting actor and actress, best screenplay, best editing, best art direction and costume. It won 4 oscars for best picture, best director, best actor(Colin Firth) and best original screen play. It was also nominated for 14 BAFTAs of which it won 7. Mark commode comments that " Oscar and BAFTA nominations and awards are often expected when playing a monarch for example with Judy Dench- Shakespeare in love with Helen Mirren- The queen etc. and especially when the story is about humanising the monarchy.
Production issues
As a child, David Seidler(screenplay) developed a stammer which was caused by the emotional trauma of World War two and the murder of his Grandparents during the holocaust. King George VI over came his stammer which was a great inspiration for David. During the 1970's and 80's he researched the King and found information on Logue. Seidler contacted Dr. Valentine Logue, Lionel Logues son, in which he agreed to talk about his father if the Queen Mother gave her permission. She responded with "not in my lifetime" this gave a halt to Seidlers project! The Queen Mother died in 2002, Three years later Seidler returned to his project. In 2005 Joan Lane of Wilde Thyme, a production company in London, recieved the scrip from David, in which she talked to Bedlam productions, and they invited David to London to rewrite the play again, but this time for the big screen. The company organised a reading of the play in Pleasance Thearter, to a group of Australian companies, amoung whom was Tom Hooper's Mother, she called him and said " i've found your next project"
The UK Film Council awarded the production £1million in June 2009. Filming began in December 2009, and lasted 39 days. Most shots were completed three weeks before christmas because Geoffrey Rush would be performing in a play in January. This schedule was further complicated as Helena Bonham Carter was working on Harry Potter during the week, so her scenes had to be filmed on the weekends.
Distribution and Marketing
Momentum Pictures (US) and Aegis Fund (UK) were the distributes for The King's Speech. The issues associated with the films distribution is that the US company was more well-known then the UK one, meaning the film would be a bigger hit in the US then in the UK. However, this was to be expected because of the American audience loving the traditional British culture.
As an independent film, The King's Speech didn't have the budget of a Hollywood Movie market to get it recongised. With a budget of £8million, it could not complete with the marketing methods of major blockbuster movies, which had backing from massive institutions such as Universal or 20th Century Fox.
The film was made just in time for 7 film festivals in hope that national newspaper journalists will enjoy it and write about it in their papers.
Other marketing methods included:
Posters :
It also included a UK and US version of Trailer.
UK Trailer
US Trailer
They used different phrases and cut outs for the trailers depending on where the trailer was going. In the US trailer they made it more serious having references to the monarchy. Where as in the UK trailer they used the less serious scenes and the funny parts, making references to the Duke instead of Monarchy. this also had more British music which unites the nation.
Issues facing British Film Makers
According to the King's Speech director, Tom Hooper, there is a revolution in British film making due to the rise of digital technology. When he was younger digital technology was not available so he had to use film he could not afford. Gadgets today have the ability to film HD with sound, so everyone has an equal opportunity to make amazing film. Even though the digital revolution has changed and given British film makers an opportunity, film makers are still restricted by costs of marketing and distribution, and also the ability to over ride the major blockbuster companies.
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