The Iron Lady

[canadian_turtle]

I was sitting in front of MrG.

Yep, your head had given me a wonderful 3d effect for 1/5 of the screen

Wait, what? I'm super short, how can I have been in your way?

[Beate]

It's not your fault, the screen was too low, I had several heads in my way as well.

[ejwrank]

I liked the film but I disagree with those who felt it didn't take sides. I think it tried to make the audience feel very sympathetic towards Thatcher. I came to the UK in 1978 and I remember my husband saying we'd leave the country if Thatcher won the election. She did and we got a posting to China in 1980 so we did leave the country for some of the Thatcher years. I refuse to feel sorry for her in spite of age and infirmity. She did more to divide us people and her famous "There is no such thing as society" was a shocking statement and I've never forgotten or forgiven it.

Anyway, Meryl Streep was terrific -- I am a great fan and she never disappoints. The first scene when you first gaze at her and she is so like Thatcher...well it was so creepy and so amazing.

I only saw a few of the FMUK gang tonight but it seemed we were all over the place. I brought along 2 newcomers to free films--two retired teachers from my children's primary school with whom I have kept in touch all these years later. They were amazed at how we get free tickets and the generosity of those who share codes and information. Anyway thanks from all of us.

[TheDude]

I was impressed that a little old punk band like the Notsensibles got on the soundtrack with their "I'm in Love with Margaret Thatcher" ditty from '79, their royalties may end up being a kind of a tax refund for them after all these years..

Meryl Streep was fantabulous as I thought she would be, but the film was a little too sympathetic towards Maggie for my liking. It's still 8/10 though.

[soonforgotten]

Here's my review for this. I have not a bad word to say about it.

http://londonfilmfanatiq.com/2011/12/02 ... iron-lady/

[dovetail]

I liked the film but I disagree with those who felt it didn't take sides. I think it tried to make the audience feel very sympathetic towards Thatcher. I came to the UK in 1978 and I remember my husband saying we'd leave the country if Thatcher won the election. She did and we got a posting to China in 1980 so we did leave the country for some of the Thatcher years. I refuse to feel sorry for her in spite of age and infirmity. She did more to divide us people and her famous "There is no such thing as society" was a shocking statement and I've never forgotten or forgiven it.

My feelings exactly! I fear that this film may give a totally misleading picture of Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism, and what it was like to live through that appalling decade when greed was good and sod the poor.

[Celini]

we had this discussion already, and I am really not sure about this

It is the portrayal of dementia that is sympathetic here, and not the woman herself.

On the paper I would agree with you, but watching the movie, I could not help but feeling lots of sympathy for this old woman who lost her mind. I don't think the portrayal of younger Maggie makes her unlikable either; for me she just came across as a very strong and driven woman.

Maybe it's just because she reminded me of my grand mother, even though the case of my gran was pretty different, she did not have dementia per se, and her Alzheimer's would make her pretty rude/nasty at times; or maybe it's just because it's very hard not to feel empathic towards someone that suffers in general.

I was feeling so much empathy towards the frail old lady at the end of the movie that I could forget and excuse all the crap she imposed to her people...

This is why I thought it was a bit biased, but then I don't really mind about it and I anyway strongly agree with your conclusion

There will likely be those on both sides of the debate who will take issue with how Thatcher is presented in The Iron Lady, but politics aside, this is a compelling story about the rise and fall of one of the world’s most powerful women, as played by one of the brightest talents in the history of cinema. Love Thatcher or hate her, The Iron Lady deserves an overwhelming vote of confidence at the box office and come awards season

[rawsalsa]

I liked the film but I disagree with those who felt it didn't take sides. I think it tried to make the audience feel very sympathetic towards Thatcher. I came to the UK in 1978 and I remember my husband saying we'd leave the country if Thatcher won the election. She did and we got a posting to China in 1980 so we did leave the country for some of the Thatcher years. I refuse to feel sorry for her in spite of age and infirmity. She did more to divide us people and her famous "There is no such thing as society" was a shocking statement and I've never forgotten or forgiven it.

My feelings exactly! I fear that this film may give a totally misleading picture of Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism, and what it was like to live through that appalling decade when greed was good and sod the poor.

Having lived through those incredibly difficult times and the negative legacy that still continues due to Thatcher, I agree wholeheartedly with both dovetail and ejwrank & I will never forgive Thatcher for the greedy attitude that she has instilled on society & unfortunately still permeates this country.

[raj101]

i am usually shocked when I hear pro - thatcherites babble on. Her strong personality aside, how can anyone be happy that some people in the country thrived at the direct cost of some parts of the country being systamatically dismantled. I dont understand how sheltered/selfinterested/naive you need you be to think that this is a good thing. Some of the students I know are like that, and I wonder how incredibly sheltered and unthinking their upbringing their lives have been so far to generate these beliefs.

When you think about it, probably reflects Thatcho herself -her thougth train was very much generated by being cut off from public opinion and built on 'inhouse' limited beliefs. I do hope the film manages to portray her inability to make fitting judgements outside her comfort zone.

[soonforgotten]

we had this discussion already, and I am really not sure about this

It is the portrayal of dementia that is sympathetic here, and not the woman herself.

On the paper I would agree with you, but watching the movie, I could not help but feeling lots of sympathy for this old woman who lost her mind. I don't think the portrayal of younger Maggie makes her unlikable either; for me she just came across as a very strong and driven woman.

Maybe it's just because she reminded me of my grand mother, even though the case of my gran was pretty different, she did not have dementia per se, and her Alzheimer's would make her pretty rude/nasty at times; or maybe it's just because it's very hard not to feel empathic towards someone that suffers in general.

I was feeling so much empathy towards the frail old lady at the end of the movie that I could forget and excuse all the crap she imposed to her people...

This is why I thought it was a bit biased, but then I don't really mind about it and I anyway strongly agree with your conclusion

There will likely be those on both sides of the debate who will take issue with how Thatcher is presented in The Iron Lady, but politics aside, this is a compelling story about the rise and fall of one of the world’s most powerful women, as played by one of the brightest talents in the history of cinema. Love Thatcher or hate her, The Iron Lady deserves an overwhelming vote of confidence at the box office and come awards season

Here's the thing, how does a film-maker depict such an illness without it coming off as somewhat sympathetic? It's an awful thing to have and if that humanises Thatcher, I don't see that as some kind of bias. She is human after all. If this film went out of its way to make her seem awful, that would be just as bad. To me it tells a story and how it comes across is very much reliant on who is seeing it and what they bring to the table. You have your personal experiences with your gran which you then relate to and it triggers that emotional response. Everyone else here have such an automatic bias against the woman, that this thread is becoming more a Thatcher critique than a film one. That's all fine, but the film itself is actually as objective as it could possibly be given its focus.

Should the film have ignored the fact that Thatcher has dementia just to avoid the chance of it being labelled as too sympathetic to her? I understand that people hate her and are happy to hate her. This film does not try to convince anyone otherwise, it really is just the story of her rise and fall. Again, there is nothing that the character of Thatcher does to redeem herself in the film. Having dementia is not a redeeming character trait. Those who really, really hate her could see that and think 'great, serves the cow right'.