The Iron Lady

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  • LilaethLilaeth Posts: 750
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    TommyNooka wrote: »
    Does Downfall portray Adolf as a hero of the German people? If not then I can't see your 'rationale'. ;)

    I wonder if they will even bother to show this film in Scottish theatres.

    I doubt it would take more than a tenner if they did!

    Why is is called The Iron Lady? We all know that what the Russians actually called her was 'Frigid Bitch'!
  • LMLM Posts: 63,325
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    It was what she was referred as

    I really can't wait for this
    My god, i do love Meryl and she is getting such acclaim for her performance
  • JCRJCR Posts: 24,028
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    Lilaeth wrote: »
    I doubt it would take more than a tenner if they did!

    There are posters up for it in the Odeon in central Edinburgh, though I dunno if they'll actually go through with showing it. ;)
  • Cade FosterCade Foster Posts: 323
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    They advertised it at cineworld sheffield the other day, cant imagine it being a hit there too, considering south yorkshires history with her.
  • duncannduncann Posts: 11,969
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    I have seen The Iron Lady. I think most people are under the misaprehension that it is a biographical film about Margaret Thatcher's career as Prime Minister. It isn't, not really.

    40% of the film is a fictionalised account of what Margaret Thatcher is supposed to be like now, but it IS fictionalised as no one who knows her now co-operated with the film. She is portrayed as a frail elderly lady with dementia who has riveting moments of lucidity. It's this portrayal of a living person with dementia that is controversial, not that it is a portrayal of Thatcher. In the film, most days she believes Denis is still alive, and this is sweet and touching, he appears with her virtually all of the time, but of course, it IS fictionalised. Jim Broadbent is absolutely nothing like Denis in terms of looks and if you didn't know you'd think Margaret had married a stand-up comic. It's not really what he was like, but it works on screen, it's OTT but the script needs the light relief from the illness.

    Meryl Streep is very good in the role, convincing, but you never forget it is Meryl Streep playing a character because of the way the flashbacks are written. The actress who plays young Margaret is spot on. The actress who plays Carol is excellent. The film incorrectly implies that Mark, who never appears, does not help or care for his mother. In reality, he is much closer to her than his sister, albeit he lives overseas.

    In flashbacks, Meryl remembers some of the highlights of her life. You couldn't possibly get the whole of Thatcher's marriage and career in to the 50-60% of the film where this happens, so it's just snapshots. Some of these are excellent, others less so. The general story is of a girl, later woman, of an inferior class and gender, unexpectedly making it all the way to the top in a man's world. It's written by and directed by a woman so it takes that position quite clearly. Some of the politics is convincing, other bits less so, but I thought there just isn't enough politics in it.

    If you didn't know you'd be hard pressed to work out how she suddenly went from getting elected as an MP to sitting in cabinet or who anyone else was or what was going on. You don't get any idea the Tories ever go out of power and when Thatcher comes in you have precious little idea of what a mess the UK was in and how hard it was to turn it round. It covers the Falklands well, there's the Brighton bomb which is not properly covered and then it's 1990 and goodbye. The 80s really are just skimmed over. You know that Thatcher is controversial but not that she won 3 elections or why.

    When Thatcher came to power the UK ranked 16th in world GDP and rose in her time to 4th. No other world leader has done that for a declining country and it's essentially why Thatcher kept winning, because of the incredible economic restructuring of the UK. You also get no idea why Howe resigns or why Heseltine runs against her, they just seem to be boorish men trying to oust a woman largely because she's a woman. You have no idea of the split over Europe, which of course is now so important.

    Really, this is a film about dementia. I thought it was excellent, but excellent more as an imagined story than as history. It is not and does not set out to be, the definitive account of Margaret Thatcher's life or time as PM. I can see why Meryl is getting the nominations and why the film isn't getting any others - so far anyway. It's too small and it's quite painful if, like me, you have had a close relative with dementia.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 376
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    Nice post duncann, thanks.

    I'm no Thatcher admirer, but I have watched all the TV dramas in which she has been portrayed, so I'll probably see this.

    I will be a bit disappointed if the members of her family are so grossly misrepresented as you suggest, but we shouldn't expect accuracy from the movie industry.
  • gagaaddictgagaaddict Posts: 1,444
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    Apparently there was a feature length trailer shown on ITV1 last night, where can I see this?
  • CD93CD93 Posts: 13,939
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    There have already been two full trailers. Don't know if the ITV one was that different :confused:

    Trailer #1

    Trailer #2
  • gagaaddictgagaaddict Posts: 1,444
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    CD93 wrote: »
    There have already been two full trailers. Don't know if the ITV one was that different :confused:

    Trailer #1

    Trailer #2

    Thanks for that! Looks promising.

    It's out in the new year, I will be seeing it :)
  • HelboreHelbore Posts: 16,066
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    I was looking forward to this, but it seems Duncann's review has left me feeling quite disappointed. I was hoping for a balanced, unbiased look at Thatcher's life and the politics of Britain her lead-up and during her term of power. I wasn't hoping for a fictionalised story, of which half is set in the modern day.

    You hear too much hyperbole about her nowadays. She's either a steely saviour who did what no-one else could, or the beast incarnate who single-handedly destroyed the country. It would have been nice to see a no-holds-barred, factual and controversial biopic of why she was who she was and did what she did.

    It's a shame that it seems we won't be getting that.
  • CD93CD93 Posts: 13,939
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    The Iron Lady - Critic Trailer

    "Sink it." Quite chilling.
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    duncann's pretty much spot on. The contemporary stuff is excellent but as a historical drama it's poor.

    There are some weird aspects to the depiction of Parliament, too. Apart from Thatcher, none of the cabinet appear to have actual jobs, but are portrayed as courtiers who surround her as if she's a monarch. This isn't just misleading (the film never makes it clear what roles Howe, Heseltine, Major etc played in Government), it means that some fine actors are underused.

    The other big problem is that Thatcher is depicted as literally the only female MP. It's true that the number of female MPs was (and still is) ridiculously low but to pretend that she was the first is just silly. From the 1950s onwards there were always around 25 female MPs, a number which had risen to 41 at Thatcher's final General Election victory (and Baroness Young was for a time a member of Thatcher's cabinet, although she was Leader of the House of Lords rather than an elected MP). There's poetic licence and there's wilful inaccuracy, and this is the latter.

    Extraordinary performance, though.
  • planetnokiaplanetnokia Posts: 15,023
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    Just watched the trailer....don't think I'll bother to go and see it as I'm put off by the fact that the face doesn't seem to match the face. Is that actually Meryl Streep's voice :confused:
  • Hitchhiker553Hitchhiker553 Posts: 874
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    I won't be seeing this movie. I've heard a few people on TV saying how accurately Mrs T is portrayed but in my opinion the comparison is pretty poor.
    Nothing like Michael Sheen's portrayal of Blair in The Queen with Helen Mirren who was also very good.
  • UpInMyFaceUpInMyFace Posts: 2,148
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    I am no Thatcher fan but I think Meryl is getting praise that is unwarrented. I think her portrayal is awful and OTT. She keeps pulling odd faces and dodgy moves with her lips. Thatcher wasn't like that. Its almost like at times its just a parady and I kept waiting for Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French to turn up.

    If Meryl wins the oscar it will be because of who Thatcher was rather than what this portrayal actually is.
  • musicismylifemusicismylife Posts: 242
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    i think this will be 'the queen/the kings speech' of 2012
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    i think this will be 'the queen/the kings speech' of 2012

    The Iron Lady isn't in the same league as either of those films.
  • musicismylifemusicismylife Posts: 242
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    Inkblot wrote: »
    The Iron Lady isn't in the same league as either of those films.

    I take it you think the iron lady isn't as good
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    I take it you think the iron lady isn't as good

    It isn't a good film.
  • Katana1000Katana1000 Posts: 750
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    From the clips I've seen, Streep looks and especially sounds like like one of the comedy actresses who did Maggie in joke shows like Spitting Image and that person who did her in the Bond films and suchlike, this coupled with the fact that I detested Maggie Thatcher puts this film on a very low priority for watching for me.

    Shame ... because I've liked some of Meryl Streeps stuff very much, maybe she should play Hillary Clinton in the future?
  • darklordrisesdarklordrises Posts: 13
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    Screw Margaret Thatcher for all I care, she ruined this country. She never gave a crap about the poor :mad:
  • musicismylifemusicismylife Posts: 242
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    its been given fantastic reviews so i will reserve judgement
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,315
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    its been given fantastic reviews so i will reserve judgement
    And a lot of negative ones. Currently a paltry 52 average on Metacritic, and that's the US critics, not ours.
    Some of us wonder, still, how Margaret Thatcher can continue to live with herself. Watching Meryl Streep walk around so ably in Thatcher's skin isn't enlightening; it's more like a living nightmare.
    ~ Stephanie Zapharek, Movieline.
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    So, what are we left with? A storming impersonation by Streep. Some pleasing high-camp, operatic choreography by Lloyd. And a feeling that a great opportunity has been squandered. - Dave Calhoun, Time Out magazine
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 9,152
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    It might be a good performance but I get the feeling it's not going to show how hated Margaret Thatcher was/is
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