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| The Iron Lady (2012) () |
IMDB Rating: 6.2
Released: Jan 13, 2012
Rating: PG-13
Genres:
Drama,
Sub Genres:
Biography,
Running Time: 105 minutes
AKA: La dame de fer
Country: USA
Language: English
IMDB Link: The Iron Lady on IMDB
Official Site: Official Site
Views: 746
Plot: The film begins with an elderly Lady Thatcher buying milk unrecognised by other customers and walking back from the shop alone. Over the course of three days we see her struggle with dementia and with the lack of power that comes with old age, whilst looking back on defining moments of her personal and professional life, on which she reminisces with her (dead) husband, Denis. She is shown as having difficulty distinguishing between the the past and present. A theme throughout the film is the personal price which Thatcher has paid for power. Denis is portrayed as somewhat ambivalent about his wife's rise to power, her son Mark lives in South Africa in the present day and is shown as having little contact with his mother, whilst it is suggested that Thatcher had a strained relationship both with her own mother and with her daughter Carol.
In flashback we are shown Thatcher's youth working in her father's grocery store in Grantham, listening to his political speeches as Alderman, and her struggle as a lower middle-class young woman trying to break into the male-dominated Tory party and find a seat in the House of Commons. Her marriage to wealthy businessman Denis Thatcher, and her struggle to fit in as a "Lady Member" of the House, and of Edward Heath's cabinet are also shown, as is her friendship with Airey Neave (later assassinated by the Irish National Liberation Army), her decision to stand for Leader of the Conservative Party, and her voice coaching and image change.
Further flashbacks examine historical events during her time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom including the rising unemployment due to her monetarist policies and the tight 1981 budget (over the misgivings of "wet" members of her Cabinet - Ian Gilmour, Francis Pym, Michael Heseltine and Jim Prior), the Brixton Riots of 1981, the miners' strike of 1984-5, and the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the 1984 Conservative Party Conference, at which she and Denis were almost killed. We also see (slightly out of chronological sequence) her decision to initiate the 1982 Falklands War, and the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano and subsequent victory, her friendship with US President Ronald Reagan, and the economic boom of the late 1980s.
By 1990 Thatcher is shown as an imperious but ageing figure, ranting aggressively at her Cabinet, refusing to accept that the Community Charge (the "Poll Tax") is regarded as unjust, and fiercely opposed to European Integration. Her deputy Geoffrey Howe resigns after being humiliated by her in a Cabinet meeting, Michael Heseltine challenges her for the party leadership and her Cabinet colleagues force her resignation as Prime Minister, about which she is still angry and bitter twenty years later.
Eventually, Margaret is shown finally packing up her late husband's belongings, and telling him it's his time to go. Denis finally leaves her, and having dealt with her grief properly, she is left alone washing up a teacup in her kitchen - something she had promised Denis she would never do.
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| The Iron Lady Movie News |
Source:
Article: Meryl Streep swore while accepting her Best Actress prize at the Golden Globe awards last night (15.01.12).
The Oscar-winning actress picked up the Best Actress in a Drama prize for her role as Margaret Thatcher in 'The Iron Lady' at the glittering show at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but upon arriving on the stage she realised she had forgotten her glasses and could not read the speech she had prepared.
She said: "Oh s**t. My glasses. I'm going to have to remember my speech. Sometimes it seems that serious, challenging, weird movies are like exotic birds, rare, near extinct birds, and every year the flock flies in and someone picks them up and gives them money and we get to see them. So I just want to thank, my agent and god, Harvey Weinstein. The punisher. Old Testament, I guess."
Meryl also thanked the "people of England" for allowing her to take on the role of the British Prime Minister and insisted she was very "proud" of the biopic.
She added: "I gotta thank everybody in England who let me come over and trample all over their history, especially Phyllida Lloyd, Abi Morgan who wrote it. All the cast and crew in England. We made it for 25 cents in five minutes, and I'm so proud of the film."
Meryl is widely predicted to be nominated for an Oscar for the film - also starring Jim Broadbent as Margaret's husband Dennis Thatcher - which has so far grossed $17 million at the global box office. |
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