The Iron Lady

I quite like the odd political film here and there, and so I was quietly looking forward to watching The Iron Lady. I thought, given that it is about Margaret Thatcher it will probably be a rousing controversial look at her time in office. Instead it focused much more on her decline and basically consisted of her letting go of the memory of her late husband. It’s quite a sad film, but one that keeps you interested with a glance back at her political life and some dazzling acting.

In the form of a series of flashbacks we are shown Thatcher’s life from the start to the end of her political career. From the first scene of the film, the title ‘The Iron Lady’ is put firmly to the test. She goes down to the shop to buy some milk and is not recognised by anyone. Throughout the film we see a completely different side to Thatcher where she is much more vulnerable and dependent on others for help. The past and the present is blurred for Thatcher, and she continually talks to her late husband, Denis, whom is present for much of the film.

Meryl Streep stars as Thatcher and is frankly phenomenal. Now it’s not hard to play an old woman who is struggling with Alzheimer’s, letting go of her past and adapting to her new life. However, Meryl Streep does such a fantastic job of becoming Thatcher. Right down to her accent, everything about Streep’s performance screams of the diligence and ability that marks her out as one of the best actresses of our time. Thatcher’s accent and tone are both very difficult to perfect, and yet Meryl Streep does so to great effect. Given the controversial nature of the first female Prime Minister, I’m sure there will be a number of films made about her, and I’m sure that Streep’s performance will be the benchmark for the actresses who take the role. Despite not being British, she excels in the role and in many ways, completely becomes the character that she is portraying. This is as much a credit to the makeup team as it is to her, and both thoroughly deserve the Academy Awards they won for this.

There is a wealth of supporting cast who deserve a mention. Jim Broadbent completely excels as the older Denis Thatcher. There seems to be something about Broadbent playing a slightly eccentric character, and he does so here to great effect. Equally enjoyable were Alexandra Roach and Harry Lloyd who played the younger Margaret and Denis. These two do brilliantly to convey the relatively care-free attitude of the two young politicians. Olivia Colman is also excellent as Carol Thatcher. This performance is another credit to both the actress and the makeup department. Now I haven’t seen much of Carol Thatcher, and I really don’t know that much about her, but I think Colman does an excellent job of playing both Thatcher’s daughter and the primary caregiver of someone with dementia. There are also a number of actors who comprise Thatcher’s government such as Anthony Head and Nicholas Farrell, however they don’t shine as much as the other cast.

However, despite the cast being fantastic, the film has met with much criticism. Thatcher’s two children have criticised the way the film depicts Thatcher. In many ways this is true, but ultimately there is a tendency for modern films to take a prominent figure who suffered from an illness and explore the illness around their character rather than the other way round. I would have liked The Iron Lady to be more of a biopic which presented the immensely influential yet controversial figure of Thatcher in the context of her political prominence. Instead, Thatcher has descended into neutrality and the filmmakers make her character largely uncontroversial and unlikely to divide the opinions of many. I think that instead of presenting a film about an old woman who can’t let go of her husband’s memory, I would have enjoyed an analysis of Thatcher’s time in office much more.

However, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy The Iron Lady because I did. It was a good film and I found it very easy to watch. It is also very uncontroversial and is unlikely to provoke strong feelings about Thatcher. However, I think this is to the slight detriment of the film. While a neutral film is more likely to appeal to the masses in that it won’t immediately dissuade either side of the Thatcher opinion polls. The neutrality of the film could be intended to reflect Thatcher’s life when she was out of the public eye. Anyway, you don’t need to be politically aware to enjoy this film. I would recommend it if you are interested in Thatcher, and if nothing else, just for Meryl Streep’s performance.