Empathy, so much empathy

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2011)

Two things which lured me to the theater were the cast and the genre: the rare case of a biography with the elements of comedy, my top favorite among comedies. Two things that made the movie memorable were the reconstruction of the time period with a rather modern insight and the close bond with the main character, it really felt like being there and then.
This movie is a touching drama with a lovely humor, but can be a really scary catastrophe thriller for anyone who has any kind of speech impediment, stage fright or other problem with public speaking. The emotions you get before an exam or a public presentation will be back on you in the theater. Oh, the horror! Bertie, do you want a hug?
I really appreciate how the main characters were portrayed; it was easy to see their strong and weak points, their fears and ambitions. Helena Bonham Carter was the Dutchess/Queen with class but also with nerve, and the two leading actors created a warm and strong married couple. Geoffrey Rush showed us Lionel Logue as a clever man with the greatest empathy, who was also very much ahead of his era with the approach to the therapy.
It was interesting to see the society in which mass media, public relations and personal life coaches would seem much of a novelty, but apparently it was already coming. I liked the way the movie showed good and bad sides of monarchy, both for the members of the royal family and for the nation (er... Empire).
It was a memorable movie certainly worth watching even if due to the emotional bond with King George it makes you feel like having a cigarette, pronouncing random dirty words and becoming a Colin Firth fan-girl forever more.