“The King’s Speech” directed by Tom Hooper (“The Damned United”, “John Adams”, “Red Dust” and episodes of “Prime Suspect”) is a pure delight. It garnered cheers from the critics a standing ovation at the end of the tiff screening!

The film is stunningly gorgeous, clever, witty, side-splittingly funny, admirably cast with the crème de la crème of Brit and Ozzie thespians. Colin Firth, Jeffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon, Derek Jakobi all of deliver superlative performances. This is the true, very poignant story of one of England’s most beloved monarchs, King George the VI, father of Elizabeth II, HRH.

After his brother abdicates, George (Colin Firth) “Bertie” has no choice but to assume the throne. Hitler’s war-mongering madness is on the rise. George has a terrible speech impediment, which has caused him immeasurable embarrassment in the past.  He must conquer this affliction if he is to assume his role as King of England. He must sound like a powerful monarch with the confidence to lead his country into a dreaded second world war.  The “King’s Speech” is the story of George VI’s struggle to conquer his speech impediment with the help of a unorthodox speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) and his wife (Bonham Carter).

The beauty of this film is that Tom Hooper and his two wonderful stars manage to entertain while educating us. I don’t need to wax poetic about this one: It is one of the best British exports to come our way. The screenplay (David Seidler) and direction is outstanding as is Danny Cohen’s cinematography and Tariq Anwar’s editing.

This film is of the highest caliber and a must see.