The Iron Lady

I was kind of apprehensive towards this film if I'm honest, simply because of the subject. I'm an incredibly active Labour supporter, and was brought up just generally not liking Margaret Thatcher. Therefore, watching a film about her was never going to be my cup of tea. If I'm honest, I walked away from the film feeling a bit confused. I didn't like her, obviously because I don't agree with anything she did, but I also kind of felt sorry for her- it isn't really about her time in power, more about her dementia and her husbands death, and to be fair to the producers it does make the audience feel sympathy.

I wasn't really sure if Meryl Streep deserved awards for this, but when I thought about it she must have done, because I don't think Ms Thatcher would be an easy person to relate to therefore give a realistic performance of.. but that is completely personal opinion. I wouldn't find Maggie easy to relate to because I have completely different political views from her. Even though I wasn't born when she was in power, I have heard that there was a certain coldness about her, which I can definitely believe- however I don't think Streep conveyed this effectively... largely because I'm fairly certain she's a nice person!

The other actors in the film do give a credible performance, particularly Jim Broadbent, but I felt towards him the same as I did towards Thatcher herself. I didn't want to like him, I didn't want to feel sorry for either of them, but I did. However, I think that it is the sign of either very good acting, or the characters have been written to ignore the parts of them that I don't like... in which case I missed it. I don't think the characters have been written like this though, because they were still very clearly tories, and I still felt sorry for them, therefore, well done Streep and Broadbent!

If I'm honest, I felt a bit weird after watching The Iron Lady. I think it's because I was expecting to be furiously angry at Thatcher, but I actually felt kind of sorry for her. That, in itself, pissed me off though, because I don't want to feel sorry for her, I can't stand the woman! I do think the actors gave a good performance though, I don't think people like that would be easy to portray in a positive light.