Chief among these is Helena Bonham Carter as Bertie's wife Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother). Playful yet determined and utterly steely, her portrayal has the air of complete truthfulness about it. As George V, Michael Gambon is more benevolent than was probably the case, and Claire Bloom's screen presence is simply too soft and warm to breathe sufficient ice into the character of Queen Mary. But Anthony Andrews makes a fabulous Baldwin, and on the basis of his performance here, I see a long line of Churchill projects in the offing for Timothy Spall.

But it is Firth's film, and he is on screen for virtually all of it. Physically more imposing than the real king, he nevertheless conveys brilliantly the brittleness and petulance that gave rise to the monarch's famous bouts of temper. He begins as not especially sympathetic, but by the time he makes his first wartime speech we have come to know him so well we are willing him on. There are wonderful touches: mindful of the King's shyness and nerves before this important speech, Logue ensures that the lofty state room at the palace from which the broadcast is to be made is reduced, by the use of dark curtains and soundproof padding, to the size of a cozy booth. 

Just as The Queen was the best bit of PR the present monarch could have hoped for in recent years, so this film will do more to enhance George VI's already solid historical standing than any number of biographies. It will also be yet another nail in the coffin of what remains of Edward VIII's reputation. This has just been shredded in the superb TV adaptation of William Boyd's Any Human Heart, which portrayed the Windsors as a stupid, ghastly and pinched couple. In The King's Speech, Edward is played by Guy Pearce as vain, vacuous and trivial. To think, for decades Edward and Wallis were up there with Anthony and Cleopatra and Burton and Taylor as one of the great romantic couples, wronged by history. The film confirms what many always thought: what a near-miss that was. 

Finally, a brief word about a very worthwhile documentary feature that might already have gone from cinema screens but which should be available on DVD. Enemies of the People is an exploration of the killing-fields of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. It centres on the decade-long attempt by the journalist Thet Sambath to track down and confront those responsible for the mass murder under Pol Pot, from his right-hand man down to the local peasants simply carrying out orders. The matter-of-factness of the executioners, willing or otherwise, whom he interviews is chilling. The murderousness of communist dictatorships continues to be shamefully neglected by filmmakers, documentary or otherwise, so this is unusual and not to be missed.