I just saw the film The Iron Lady about the life of Margaret Thatcher.
Meryl Streep is almost perfect and very appealing as she shows Thatcher in her old age and in flashbacks as a formidable prime minister.
The film concentrates on Thatcher in her old age for most of its one and three quarter hours, and that is the film’s weakness.
While we see flashbacks, the scenes are never long enough to take off and sustain the idea that we are really ‘in the story’ because we know that soon we will be back with Thatcher in her dotage, hallucinating visions of her long-dead husband.
The focus is on Maggie as a bright but confused old woman – and that image is there reminding us of the fact all the time to the point that it is claustrophobic.
There is never a shift of perspective, save perhaps for the scene when Airie Neeve and her voice coach are teaching her how to modulate her voice to become a winner.
There are film clips from the period, showing strikes and confrontations with the police. But this footage is simply documentary context – there is no character for us to fix on.
Dark Interiors
So this is a very interior film in every sense. It is mainly shot in interiors and we see the interior of Maggie’s mind.
She is seen in lingering shots as she negotiates the hallucinations she suffers in her old age.
She is seen in flashback in her prime, spanking the bottoms (metaphorically) of her weakling cabinet ministers.
She is seen gleaming with the ecstasy of purpose as she sets out to put Britain right.
We see her try by force of will to mould Britain and the British to regain the middle ground for those who want to work hard and bugger the slackers as she sees them.
And we see her finally, exiting down the stairs of her home – just fading into the distance.
I think I will recall scenes from the film for a long time. That is my touchstone for whether a film was worth making in the first place.