Beware. The 18th of January, Editorial Siruela will release in Spain Crimen en el Barrio del Once (Crime in District Eleven), Siruela 2011. This is the same book published in Argentina under a different title La aguja en el pajar (Needle in a Haystack), Planeta 2005 ?????????????
The Spanish publisher page doesn’t make any reference to the original title in Argentina.
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Begoña and I went to see The King’s Speech today. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I highly recommend it. What impressed me most was the ability of this movie to convey a great number of emotions from a relatively simple storyline and a stunning performance of Colin Firth with no disrespect to Geoffrey Rush.
Summary:
‘After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle.
Based on the true story of King George V, THE KING’S SPEECH follows the Royal Monarch’s quest to find his voice.’
The King’s Speech official website
The King’s Speech IMDb
My rating 8/10.
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After reading Martin Edwards’s blog post at ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’, I was left willing to revisit either the book or the film. I did not have to wait long; last night I had the opportunity to watch in TeleMadrid the film version directed by Sidney Lumet in 1974.
I don’t pretend to review the film here and you can check what Kerrie wrote about the audio book at Mysteries in Paradise. All I want is to bring to your attention Ingrid Bergman’s performance. She earned her third Oscar with this interpretation, her first one for Best Supporting Actress.
Director Sidney Lumet offered Bergman the role of Princess Dragomiroff, with which he felt she could win an Oscar. However, she insisted on playing the much smaller role of Greta Ohlsson, the Swedish missionary. Lumet discussed Bergman’s role:
‘She had chosen a very small part, and I couldn’t persuade her to change her mind. She was sweetly stubborn. But stubborn she was… Since her part was so small, I decided to film her one big scene, where she talks for almost five minutes, straight, all in one long take. A lot of actresses would have hesitated over that. She loved the idea and made the most of it. She ran the gamut of emotions. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
A Crime is Afoot 