The King's Speech

We have but one regular movie theater here in Podunk.  Its usual bill of fare includes anything with "Jackass" or "Saw" in its title and all things put out by Pixar.  Basically, if it's animated, if people get shot or punch each other, or if the plot took less than fifteen minutes to dash off, you can be sure it will be in heavy rotation in our cinema. 

I'm sure those films have a place.  They are frequently big box office hits, after all.  Some of them manage to be charming, entertaining ways to spend a little bit of time, have an evening out with friends (or a date...I seem to remember that being a use for them, too), or blur away a little of the world outside.  None of those things in and of themselves are bad. 

But a film can be more.  It can be more than catharsis or slapstick jokes.  It can be more than an excuse to hold a hand in the dark or have a big screen babysitter for a couple of hours.  Really great film can show us something about ourselves, about the human condition, can inspire in the way that great literature does since they pull from the same core of experience and leave the viewer with the sense that he or she is better for having seen it in some way. 

I think this type of film needs a chance to be seen here in Podunk, too.  Our local theater owner does not show these, though.  One usually has to go to another city more than an hour away to see movies that are "arty."  Ironically, one of these, The King's Speech, just won the Oscar for Best Picture and it never even played here.  Imagine that.  A movie the industry thinks is so important that it was given its very highest prize (more than one, actually) and our little movie theater owners in their divine wisdom said, "Nope.  Not any good.  Not bringing it here."  Fortunately, I got a chance to see it today at the beautiful old movie palace downtown.  The management there agrees with me that people deserve a chance to see something other than the trite, the cliched, and the predictable.

The King's Speech is indeed a movie that leaves its viewers, if they are paying attention in the least, anyway, better.  I don't think it can help but do so.  As the story unfolds, as the characters unfold, we are drawn in; we feel with them.  It is a story about fear and conquering it.  It doesn't show that as something that is a simple process.  It doesn't show it as a one-time thing, a switch-click solution with a shining hero who has nothing left to overcome at the end.  Instead, it shows a beautifully complicated and layered quest that continues, and in that perseverance, nobility above and beyond anything bestowed by birth or title is revealed.

I will order this movie when it comes out next month on DVD.  I think it is going to become a favorite of mine.  It just made me feel good to see it.  I can't imagine why our local theater made the decision not to field it, why they thought that it would not fare well here.  I can't imagine anyone anywhere not responding to the hope that is in that film.  Of course, if all you want in a movie is big explosions or gratuitous nudity, I suppose it might not be your cup of tea.  In that case, they will, of course, be glad to take your money across town....