The definitive verdict on the biopic from former Guardian political editor Michael White, who observed Thatcher up close as a young sketchwriter in the 1970s
It would be easy to imagine saying to Meryl Streep, "I knew Margaret Thatcher. You're no Margaret Thatcher," as an American politician once did to a rival who compared himself to President John F Kennedy. Easy, but wrong. Streep's interpretation of Thatcher in three distinct stages of her career, before, during and after her 11-year premiership, is a remarkable and sensitive achievement. Give the woman another Oscar, the pair of them can share it. Hollywood would like that.
The jibe could be levelled against Phyllida Lloyd's film. The Iron Lady certainly contains a selection of Thatcher's greatest handbaggings – which everyone much over 40 will remember with nostalgic glee or a shudder. We all knew her. But it is background. What cinema-goers will remember from this film is its foreground,...
It would be easy to imagine saying to Meryl Streep, "I knew Margaret Thatcher. You're no Margaret Thatcher," as an American politician once did to a rival who compared himself to President John F Kennedy. Easy, but wrong. Streep's interpretation of Thatcher in three distinct stages of her career, before, during and after her 11-year premiership, is a remarkable and sensitive achievement. Give the woman another Oscar, the pair of them can share it. Hollywood would like that.
The jibe could be levelled against Phyllida Lloyd's film. The Iron Lady certainly contains a selection of Thatcher's greatest handbaggings – which everyone much over 40 will remember with nostalgic glee or a shudder. We all knew her. But it is background. What cinema-goers will remember from this film is its foreground,...
- 1/4/2012
- by Michael White
- The Guardian - Film News
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