Review of The Iron Lady (2011) by Filipeneto — 27 Jun 2018

I was surprised when I saw this movie and saw Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, mainly because I did not know that the former British prime minister was suffering from dementia. After watching the movie for the first time, I was curious to read some things and then I understood it.

I went back to see the movie a second time, after a while, and only then I truly appreciate the work of this actress who, once again, shows us all her versatility. About Thatcher's life there is little to say.

She is a contemporary public figure, almost all of us know her course and we have an opinion about her (positive or negative, it doesn't matter). This is an additional challenge for an actor but Streep has achieved it with great talent.

The scenes with the elderly Thatcher are deeply disturbing because she is clearly confused and oblivious of reality because of the disease, that makes her vulnerable and dependent on other people's support.

Its always difficult to see someone in this situation. These scenes still have one bad thing: when playing with constant temporal flashbacks, the film focus gets a little lost and divided between past and present, between the old Thatcher and the Thatcher who was head of government.

This makes the film very confusing, especially for those who do not know well her action when she was in politics. Everything else in this film is good, from the scenarios to the way the film depicts the political action of the woman who most marked the 20th century for the British (just behind the beloved Queen Elizabeth, of course).