Did you see the King's Speech? Good isn't it? Think it will get some Oscars? Me too! Don't think it will get the Big Five - I suspect The Social Network for screenplay and Natalie Portman for actress - but best actor is surely in the bag, as is - if there's any justice - best supporting actor for Rush.
One award it probably won't get is the Oscar for Film Most Needlessly Vandalised by Avaricious Philistine Lowest Common Denominator Dickwads. It won't get it because the Oscar doesn't exist, but it's starting to look like we need such an award, and fast. Why? Glad you asked.
The Weinstein Company, the producers of the film, are toying with the possibility of re-releasing the film on the back of all the Oscar buzz, only with one crucial difference. They want to edit out the swearing. They want to re-release The King's Speech with all the swearing either cut or bleeped out, so they can lower the age rating and make more money.
"Hello everyone. Arsecheeks!"
Even if you haven't seen the film, you may be aware of the part swearing plays in the film. The King, Bertie (Colin 'Oscar' Firth) has enlisted the help of speech therapist Logue (Geoffrey 'Oscar' Rush) in a bid to overcome his stammer. The film follows the relationship between the two men as Bertie endeavours to deal with the expectations and torments of his unwanted position, a mental straightjacket which forbids him to speak freely.
One of the limitations Bertie overcomes, and one which gives him at least temporary victory over his stammer, is the unspoken rule that kings don't shout "Fuck fuckety buggering bollocks" at the tops of their voices, for quite a long time. It's a glorious moment, showing a man overcoming not just a disability but also a lifetime of repression. It is a moment of liberation and joy, and - better - it resonates beyond the story of a King living decades ago.
This is about lives and minds crippled by social pressures, by the constant fear of transgressing invisible boundaries drawn up by arbitrary rulemakers to hold us in place. It is about the way voices can bring down prison walls. And it is about the joy of friendship that gets beyond surfaces and expectations, and allows us to be vulnerable, and naughty, and alive.
What this film does not need, in my opinion, is to have the swearing cut out so it can grab a bit more of a post-Oscar bounce.
Too bad. One case where swearing was completely relevant and justifiable and also funny. Hope they will see sense.
ReplyDeleteI hope they cut it. I think the Weinsteins should recall all their films, cut out all swearing (or replace it with 'Melon Farmers' and stuff) and then redistribute them, rebranded and repackaged. They'd make a killing! Plus, can you imagine 'Pulp Fiction: the clean version'. I think that would be marvellous
ReplyDeleteMost kids swear or know the meaning etc. so why cut it?
ReplyDeleteAnyway Logue's granddaughter said the swearing was inaccurate