There were times when watching 'The Iron Lady' that I had to remind myself that Margaret Thatcher wasn't actually playing the lead role. Meryl Streep owns the part and is frighteningly accurate in her depiction of Britain's former Prime Minister. By the end of the film I was having to Google images of the real Thatcher to remind myself of what she looked like.
The fragile figure that we meet as the film opens is sad for those of us who remember the days (or have seen the youtube footage) of the enigmatic Thatcher once holding court in Lords. Pathos is abundant as the modern day Mrs. Thatcher flips between utter confusion and moments of sheer lucidity when her biting wit and cutting intellect remind us of the imposing figure that she once was, and to a degree still is. Phyllida Lloyd, the director, highlights Thatcher's rapidly deteriorating dementia which is poignantly personified by hallucinations of her late husband, Denis. The film shows a softer side to Thatcher, or MT as Denis affectionately dubbed her, and watches less like a film about a former political force than acting as a keyhole into her private life. We are given a glimpse into the life of a woman who, on the surface, seemed invincible but who we are reminded was also a mother, a wife and the one role that drove her to the lengths she took, the daughter of a greengrocer. Subtleties as small as Thatcher offering her husband a sweet as they watch television are touching in a very intimate way, and it's hard not to feel as if you are intruding on their privacy. This is a life that Margaret Thatcher hid from the world and we are introduced to a very different Iron Lady from the one that the public became accustomed to.
Lloyd manages to give a fluid transition into Thatcher's past, however it can't help but feel that she uses her dementia as a cinematic tool to do so. As David Cameron rightly pointed out the film does seem to linger too long on her rapidly decreasing mental state rather than her success as the leader of a country. Her hallucinations become memories and the audience becomes privy to her Rites of Passage. We join the young Margaret on her first day at Lords and it is an amusingly ironic moment as she opens the 'Women Member's' door to find an empty room with nothing but an ironing board and iron. A 'Britain's Next Top Prime Minister' makeover scene renders her truly recognisable as the woman who transformed this country with a 'Prime Minister's Speech' montage scene demonstrating how she found her (literal) voice. All while the younger Thatcher's cabinet circle her like vultures and she remarkably handles the Falklands War, the elder Iron Lady battles her dementia with equal resolute stoicism, the woman who would not give in to the miners will also not give into her condition. Streep plays Thatcher as appearing to see a lighter side to her illness, she is aware that Denis is not there and unwilling to admit her visions of him, but this does not stop her jesting and dancing with him in private. The couple become one of the great partnerships of history and are proof that behind every great woman is a man who can put up with her. 'Were you happy, Denis?', an old lady asks a vision and despite the difficulties they both faced I think that we all know the answer.
Definitely worth a watch, very touching and a true sense of being close to reality. However, if you're looking for a lowdown of Maggie's political career then it's probably best to go out and buy a biography.
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