The Iron Lady France, UK 2011 – 104min.

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The Iron Lady

Movie Rating: Constantin Xenakis

Biopic about Margaret Thatcher starring Meryl Streep as the Tory queen.

Now in her 80’s and suffering from senile dementia, Margaret Thatcher reminisces about her modest social origins and her acceptance to Oxford, meeting her husband, having two children and entering into politics, of her election to the head of the British government in 1979 and her defeat in 1990. As she thinks back, the former prime minister refuses to accept the death of her adored husband, gone since 2003...

For several years now it has been the trend to bring onscreen the stories of controversial political figures – those with just enough faults to reveal hidden elements of someone everyone thinks they know, and just enough soft spots to make them seem human. The list includes The Queen, Frost/Nixon, La conquête and the more recent The Lady and J. Edgar, all of which seem very similar in the end: the plots are remedial history courses and the performances are studies in impersonation aimed more at receiving statuettes than actual acting – with the make-up artists the real unsung heroes of these cinematic puff pieces.

10.11.2020

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simpsonb

12 years ago

I was hesitant to watch it, but thought, naah, can't be that bad, they won't be able to just turn around 11 years of "Margaret Bloody Thatcher" (quote: Brassed Off) to make them look like the success story of a woman against all odds. But hey, Lloyd/Morgan did it. The worst moment of all that historical revisionism was Maggie exiting No. 10 to the aria "Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma. Miner strikes? Falklands? Poll tax? Oh, no, it's finally all about poor Maggie being stabbed in the back by Heseltine. This film is so cynical it almost made me puke.Show more


richietto

12 years ago

For me a very moving film. Enjoyed the tears - true fact is much sadder than fiction.


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