WHAT’S truly special about the film is that it shows us a man who successfully manages to fashion a career for himself despite having no access to a formal education. No ivy league education, no college education, not even a certificate.
An unsuccessful theatre actor, Lionel Logue (Geoffery Rush) channelises his disappointments, elocution and theatre skills into helping others overcome their speech impediments. A self-taught speech therapist, he begins his learning when asked to help World War I soldiers who lost their voices, both literally and figuratively. But what’s beautiful is his perceptiveness in understanding that mere technique isn’t enough.
First he must help them face their inner demons, borne of the ravages of war. The job needs empathy, compassion, not to mention wit and a truckload of patience, qualities that cannot be faked – nurtured perhaps, but not emulated. And thus he stumbles upon his calling and counsels others who stammer or have any other speech difficulties.
A child isn’t born with a stammer, is his firm belief and this leads him to understand the root cause for his patient’s speech impediment – being forced to be right-handed when in fact you were born left-handed, is one such usual suspect.
Establishing the root cause is a challenge by itself, one which needs much commitment to discover. Getting his “patients” to face their emotional issues is another.
Self-doubt. Fear. Seeking solace in self-deprecation.
He provokes a King in denial, into a frenzy of angry outbursts, an outcome he anticipates and hopes for because when the King is hopping mad, he does not stammer. And then he proceeds to tell the King that he will make a bloody good one because he is so persevering.
In fact it is Logue, a self-taught speech therapist – who is the persevering one. His level of engagement with his patients, going the extra mile to help them, is awe-inspiring!
Perhaps one can only persevere, when one cares? something to ponder over…
written with alot of passion