Movie The Iron Lady (12A)
Jenness Mitchell • Published 6 Jan 2012 08:00
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Award season is incoming. As with last year this is the time when Hollywood smashes and indie winners hit the big screen. Twelve months on and Black Swan, True Grit, The Social Network, The King's Speech and 127 Hours have been replaced by The Artist, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Descendants, War Horse, Moneyball, The Ides of March, The Help, J.Edgar, My Week With Marilyn and Shame. Given its subject and starring two-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, it is no surprise that The Iron Lady has garnered similar buzz prior to release.
Narrated through a series of flashbacks, the film depicts an elderly Baroness Thatcher (Meryl Streep) reminiscing moments that shaped and affected her personal and political life. Suffering from dementia and haunted by visions of her late-husband Dennis (Jim Broadbent), we are witness to the former Prime Minister as she recalls the miner and Irish hunger strikes and Falklands war to the poll tax riots, friendship with America and warnings over Europe before being brought down by her very own party.
Written by Abi Morgan (Shame) and directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!), it would seem as if the two women were attempting to humanise the both loved and loathed political icon. Given Thatcher's legacy I found the portrayal slightly unsettling and uncomfortable to watch as she is still alive. Our old leader was a powerful figure and I feel as if supporters will not take kindly to the exposing of Thatcher at her most vulnerable and at the same time those that lived through the 80s will feel as if the movie doesn't heavily touch on the damage and misery caused throughout the country. Whether right or wrong, Thatcher was courageous and unwavering. I would have been more impressed if they'd shown her in all her glory - tough and chilling.
It is easy to associate the first female British party leader to the rise of unemployment, the horror of privatisation and the discontinuing of milk to primary school children under the age of seven (there's a great scene in which a frail Thatcher complains about the price of milk). Those that are quick to insult forget that she cut personal income taxes, forced democracy on unions, millions of tenants in council houses became proud home-owners and British Airways went from alarming losses as a state-owned concern to huge profits and general recognition as one of the finest airlines once in private hands. British Steel followed a similar path and investment skyrocketed as London surged back to world financial leadership. When Argentina seized the Falkland Islands she took great risks sending two of the world's largest liners (the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Canberra) into a war zone and practically the entire Royal Navy to take the island back. Her response to the proposal to reduce Britain to a local government in a federal Europe was, "No, no, no, and never." She warned that one currency for all Europe - with a shared credit rating between all participating countries - would not work, she warned that fixed exchange rates would not work, that surrendering powers from Westminster to Brussels and Strasbourg wouldn't work, and that subsuming British foreign policy, especially relations with the United States, into a European foreign policy wouldn't work either. In all of this, she has been proved correct.
Thatcher fought the status quo and her male counterparts (most in the film portrayed as incompetent or jealous) with her wit and intellect. I do not like The Iron Lady's suggestion that she attained leadership of the Conservative Party by getting a fabulous blow-dry. With too much time spent sentimentally, although we had Edward Heath (John Sessions), Michael Heseltine (Richard E. Grant), Geoffrey Howe (Anthony Head), Airey Neave (Nicholas Farrell) and Gordon Reece (Roger Allam), where were Nicholas Ridley, Norman Tebbit and Keith Joseph?
As the leading lady, you could not have found a more apt actress than Meryl Streep. The American is outstanding - capturing Thatcher's mannerisms, voice, smile and cold stare all in one go. She is Oscar-worthy with her performance, but the film is not. Margaret Thatcher deserved better than this.
This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 11 Jan 12
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