Following recent trends, Meryl Streep won an Academy Award for a convincing portrayal of a recent historical figure in a biopic that was enjoyed by many (following Sean Penn in Milk, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote and Jamie Foxx in Ray). Others portrayed dynamic characters and captivated audiences but Streep truly brought The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, to life. Looking back at a nearly forty year political career while suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Streep (and Jim Broadbent who played Denis Thatcher) soar to heights that the plain film is incapable of reaching.
In order to become England’s first female Prime Minister and lead the country through the divisive 1980s, Thatcher gave up a great deal of her family life, a fact that she only realizes now that most of it is gone. She may have been pillaged in the media during periods of crisis or betrayed by her cabinet when she was ousted in 1990 but she still beliefs that she was in the right throughout her rule. Although this resolve enabled her rise to power and led to the end of her reign when she could not cope with changing times. Today, as the Eurozone strains under the weight of debtor nations like Greece, Thatcher’s stance about exposing the British pound to risk may be somewhat vindicated but the lives of English citizens move too quickly for them to stop and think what came before them.
Biopics can never cover a major historical figure’s life fully hours; the most successful films pick a small period of time or a specific incident that reflects the person’s core values and key characteristics. For this reason, the many flashbacks fail to create a meaningful portrait of Thatcher: playing more like a greatest hits collect available on YouTube than insightful commentary.
When Streep portrays an aged Thatcher, twenty years after leaving 10 Downing Street, she begins to move the viewers.Thatcher rose to her position because she never compromised her high standards. Eventually they became so high that they placed her out of touch with those around her. Now, because of her illness, Thatcher struggles to determine exactly what she stands for and how she fits in. Shades of blue and grey abound, inside and outside of the Iron Lady. Like many others, she only realizes what she had after it has been lost. ***