Learning and experiencing foreign cultures through the silver screen

It is always refreshing to watch a British film after a constant stream of blockbuster films from Hollywood major studios.

I can’t say that I am an avid movie-goer but who would say no to a film starring attractive and heavily accented British men (and women)?

Last year in October upon visiting a DVD store, I bought a copy of The King’s Speech. Several months towards the end of 2014 were so hectic that it was not only until recently that I got around to watch the movie.

The movie stars Colin Firth as King George VI, Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Queen Elizabeth and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the eccentric Australian speech therapist who practiced unconventional approach in his therapies.

The movie centers on the King’s struggle with verbal communication (stammer), his courage in overcoming the impediment and the budding of an unlikely friendship between the King and his unorthodox speech therapist.

The King’s Speech is moving and mesmerising. Try imagining yourself in his shoes: He was at the top of the monarchy and the British Empire was heading into war with Germany. To motivate his people, he would have to become a King who speaks with steadfastness and clarity, instead of stammers punctuated with long silences.

Throughout the movie, I was enthralled by Colin Firth’s solid performance. He succeeded in portraying the psychological struggle that threatened to overpower his ability to speak whenever he finds himself in front of other people.

My personal favourite in the film is undoubtedly the banter between King George VI and Lionel Logue. One of the first banters in the film that I considered as subtlety brilliant is when Lionel commented on King George VI’s smoking habit.

Lionel Logue: [as George is lighting up a cigarette] Please don't do that.

Lionel Logue: Makes it official, then.

The King’s Speech prompted me to do several rounds of research in order to learn more about the British Royal Family specifically the story of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. In the process, I have learned a lot more than what I knew.

I have long been into learning about foreign cultures through music and films because what better way to immerse in foreign cultures than to consume content created by home-grown talents? If you are interested in understanding other cultures and would also like to pick up new languages, I would say watching foreign movies help, or set up a travel plan in 2015 to personally immerse and bask in the culture that you have thus far only experienced through the silver screen. There is no two ways about it.