The King's Speech Case Study

The King's Speech

(sfgate.com)
"The king is George VI (Colin Firth), the upright naval officer who took the throne in late 1936 after his brother Edward abdicated. The speech refers not to one specific discourse (there are a couple of crucial ones), but to the man's tortured elocution in general. He had an unyielding stutter, a career that forced him to speak to the masses - and a speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who helped him reconcile the two. That one is a commoner, the other a royal in the waning years of the British Empire adds a notable shudder of class tension to the mix."

What Makes A Film British?

According to the government (in 2003) the majority of people would define a film as 'British' with references to cultural elements including a setting in the UK, a predominantly British cast, a storyline about a British lifestyles or a focus on British people abroad. 

British Film 

There are now two key criteria for a production to qualify as a Brit pic: 70% of a film's budget must be spent in Britain, and 70% of the money allocated to labour must go to either European or Commonwealth citizens. The definition is significant because tax-breaks are available to producers and buyers of officially-recognised British films.

With regard to the revised definition, Films minister Janet Anderson predictably commented: 'our reforms to the definition of 'British film' should make it even more attractive to film in this country'

The previous ruling had allowed films to be defined as British even if they were largely filmed outside the UK, while debarring films which, though largely British, had non-British soundtracks. One such film was Mark Herman's Little Voice (pictured).

The move comes as recent evidence demonstrates an enthusiasm for 'British film' - official or otherwise - at the overseas box-office. US exit polls for Notting Hill showed that 14% of movie-goers rated 'I like British movies' as a top reason to see the movie.

British Box Office

£3,523,102 (UK) (9 January 2011) (395 Screens)

Critical Reception

According to IMDb 

8.1/10 

4/5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes

"Colin Firth gives a masterful performance in The King's Speech, a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama."

94% or 98.6/10


Critical Review
(sfgate.com)

Amy Biancolli, Hearst Movie Writer

"The King's Speech" is a warm, wise film - the best period movie of the year and one of the year's best movies. It begins with the fear of a prince and ends with the courage of a king, finding room in between for terrific joy and drama.

Inception had trailed a blaze of its cleverness the size of a Parisian arrondissement. We were ready to be dazzled. If you had even heard of it, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech looked no more than well-spoken Merchant Ivoriness optimistically promoted from Sunday teatime.

Awards and Nominations

The Kings Speech 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 screenplay. It was also nominated for 14 BAFTAs of which it won 7. Mark Kemode comments that Oscar and BAFTA nominations and awards are often expected when playing a monarch for example with Judy Dench - Shakespeare in Love Helen Mirren - The Queen etc. and especially when the story is about humanising the monarchy. 

Production Companies

Weinstein Company, The (presents)

UK Film Council (presents)

Momentum Pictures (in association with)

Aegis Film Fund (in association with)

Molinare Investment (in association with) (as Molinare, London)

FilmNation Entertainment (in association with)

See-Saw Films (as See Saw Films)

Bedlam Productions (as Bedlam)

Filming Locations

All 19 film locations are in the UK including the following

- Halton House, Halton, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

(Buckingham Palace - King's office

- Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

(Sandringham House - interiors)

- Draper's Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, Broadgate, London, England, UK

(Buckingham Palace - King's speech)

- Wendover Woods, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

(Rolls-Royce driving scenes)

The finance

Budget: $15,000,000

Opening Weekend: £3,523,102

Gross Profit:$138,795,342 (USA)

Productions Issues

The King's Speech is an example of a film that can receive major global success without the help of a major Hollywood studio. See-Saw, a British/Australian company, financed and produced the film by getting deals with key distribution partners - The Weinstein Company (USA) Momentum Pictures (UK) Transmission (Australia) and Alliance Film (Canada). See-Saw faced a big decision when Fox Searchlight showed an interest in The King's Speech but they wanted worldwide rights to the film. This meant they would have to cut other partners See-Saw chose to turn down Fox Searchlight and keep the original partners to keep the control in their hands.

Marketing and Distribution

As an independent film, the King's Speech was not able to use a huge budget of Hollywood levels for the marketing, With a budget of only around £8million - £12 million, it could not compete with major blockbusters with backing from massive institutions such as Universal or 20th Century Fox. Instead, the King's Speech used viral marketing to draw attention to the film - and it proved just as effective, if not, more. The film was made just in time to enter it into several film festivals in the hope that national newspaper journalists will enjoy it and write about it in their papers. Luckily, the reception of the film was brilliant, and even before the film had been released in cinemas, people were talking about it and saying how good it was, whilst tipping it for many awards including some Oscars.