The tagline for The Iron Lady reads: “She fought for control, she fought for her beliefs, she fought for her country. Beyond the power, beyond the ambition, lies the extraordinary story of an extraordinary woman.”
It is a terribly Hollywood billing for a very British Prime Minister. But that’s where the cheesiness ends. On the evidence unveiled in Cannes, this film does justice to its subject, highlight the genune emotion behind the stern reputation.
Meryl Streep’s transformation is remarkable. Instantly, one feels it is Lady Thatcher up there on screen. The actress is renowned for mastering accents but it is the combination of the voice, the mannerisms and the overall look that make her performance uncanny. Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher, on the other hand, looks exactly like Jim Broadbent.
Their marriage, and Denis’s unfailing support for his wife, is at the emotional heart of the film. One scene takes place in the kitchen of their home at 19 Flood Street, Chelsea. It is 1974, and Thatcher has decided to challenge Edward Heath. “I have decided to run for the leadership of the party. It’s my duty,” she tells Denis. He hits back: “Don’t call it duty, call it ambition,” and accuses her of putting her career before her family. “The rest of us - me and the children - can go to hell,” he yells.
The writer, Abi Morgan, may have taken liberties by inventing that quote, of which there is no written record. Yet in her memoir, The Path to Power, Lady Thatcher did acknowledge that she had a conversation at Flood Street in which Denis told her: “You must be out of your mind! You haven’t got a hope.” She wrote: “He had a point but I never had any doubt that he would support me all the way.”The film is told in flashback, with an old and frail Lady Thatcher looking back over her life.
The young Thatcher is played by Alexandra Roach. We see her tell Denis early in their relationship: “One’s life must matter. I will never be one of those women who sit silent and pretty on the arm of her husband.”
All the key moments are here, from becoming Prime Minister in 1979 and delivering her famous, “Where there is discord, may we bring harmony...” speech outside No 10 to the horror of the Brighton bombing, ending with her tearful exit in 1990 when the support of her Cabinet colleagues fell away and Denis gently told her: “Throw in the towel, love.” Michael Heseltine, played here by an oleaginous Richard E Grant, could be the villain of this piece.
There are comic episodes: demanding, “Shoulders back, tummies in,” as she poses with male colleagues for an official photograph, and confusing a US dignitary by asking, “Shall I be mother?” as she pours the tea. Much is made of her status as a woman in a man’s world. “Gentlemen, shall we join the ladies?” she asks at the end of a State dinner.
Early scenes show her enjoying a break on the beach with her family, giving driving lessons to her daughter, Carol, and dancing with Denis. Later, she twirls around a dancefloor with Ronald Reagan.
She is also shown submitting somewhat reluctantly to a makeover at the hands of Gordon Reece (Roger Allam), who was tasked with softening her image. In addition to the voice coaching - she was deemed too shrill - she is given fashion advice, not all of which is gratefully received. “The pearls,” she announces imperiously, “are non-negotiable.”
The film revisits the Falklands conflict. “The Falkland Islands belong to Britain and I want them back,” Lady Thatcher declares. She rounds on her Cabinet colleagues, accusing them: “Your problem, some of you, is that you haven’t got the courage for this fight.” When US Secretary of State Al Haig tries to advise her on the perils of warfare, she replies: “With all due respect, Sir, I have done battle every single day of my life.”
Behind the tough exterior, we see her in tears as she receives news of the casualties, and preparing to write to the families of the bereaved.
On the evidence of these excerpts, The Iron Lady achieves two aims. First, it shows us that Lady Thatcher’s rise to power took considerable courage and determination. Second, that behind the Spitting Image caricature was a leader with real emotions.
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