Bertie and Elizabeth: The Reluctant Royals - The Story of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth
by Giles Foster
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: James Wilby; Juliet Aubrey; Alan Bates; Eileen Atkins; Charles Edwards (VI); Amber Rose Sealey; Elisabeth Dermot Walsh; Hannah Wiltshire; Robert Hardy; Oliver Ford Davies; Graham Bill; Deborah Cornelius; Naomi Martin; Alexandra Staden; Jeremy Child; David Hatton; Rupert Wickham; Jeremy Swift; Simon Day (III); Anthony SmeeDirector: Giles Foster
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-01-04
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: WGBH BOSTON
Movie Reviews of Bertie and Elizabeth: The Reluctant Royals - The Story of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth
Movie Review: God Looketh on the Heart
Summary: 4 Stars
There is a Bible story that when the prophet Samuel went to choose the King of Israel the first candidate was a tall and impressive man. But God forbade it saying, "Man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart." This went on several times until finally the King was chosen-David.
The story of George VI has always reminded me of this story. King George was a shy, almost hobbit-like man who looked like he would have been happier as an accountant then a King. And yet he became one of England's most beloved Kings.
This film is in some ways a subversion of the normal Hollywood ethos(perhaps, not least because it was not made in Hollywood). The hero was not the one who "followed his bliss". It was the decent, respectable man who followed his duty. His brother, by contrast did "follow his bliss" and comes off as rather a cad. "Bertie and Elizabeth" make normallity attractive and "convention" sublime. At a time when actually living the "mere" homely virtues of loyalty to family and country, and of decency of heart and of action could in fact be heroic.
The movie shows not only the drama of history but more incongruously and yet more realistically the familiar family life. It reminds one that a happy family is still a happy family even if mommy and daddy have the highly respectable job of reigning over the world's greatest empire.
The most heartwarming scene in the movie is of the royal couple touring the ruins of bomb-battered London to be greated by indomitable children waving Union Jacks. It shows the spirit that can prevail over adversity.
This is a movie well worth the watching.
More Bertie and Elizabeth: The Reluctant Royals - The Story of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth reviews:
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Summary of Bertie and Elizabeth: The Reluctant Royals - The Story of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth
James Wilby (Gosford Park) and Juliet Aubrey (Middlemarch) portray the reluctant royals who became king and queen of England when Edward VIII gave up the throne for the woman he loved, on Bertie & Elizabeth. Albert, Duke of York, called Bertie, married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 after a storybook courtship. Expecting a life of genteel obscurity, they were thrust into the limelight in 1936 when Bertie's older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. Shy, modest, and a habitual stutterer, Bertie was crowned King George VI just as his country faced the onslaught of World War II. With the help of his devoted Elizabeth, he rose magnificently to the challenge. Bertie & Elizabeth also stars Alan Bates (Love in a Cold Climate) as Bertie's father, King George V; Eileen Atkins (currently starring with Bates and Wilby in Gosford Park) as his mother, Queen Mary; Charles Edwards as Edward VIII; Amber Rose Sealey as Wallis Simpson; David Ryall as Winston Churchill; Robert Hardy (Lucky Jim) as President Franklin Roosevelt; and Corin Redgrave (Persuasion) as General Bernard Montgomery.Art House & International DVD Video
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