The Iron Lady

Abi Morgan (1968) screenwriter for ‘Iron Lady’, the biopic on Margaret Thatcher, has already proved that she knows how to brilliantly capture character on screen. “Shame” co-written with director Steve McQueen, starring Michael Fassbender, has won kudos around the world. Margaret Thatcher, much like Brandon in Shame, is a character without equal and who better to portray her than Meryl Streep.

Meryl Streep says it is not a biopic as it does not follow the chronology of everything that happened but really it is a ”looking back from the vantage point of age at a life and what the cost of all those decisions are.”

“It was a privilege to look through the lens of such a well-known figure and to follow the events of her life, certain ones of them, from a completely subjective imaginary point of view.”

The film looks back at Margaret Thatcher’s life through the eyes of age and considers the highs and lows and the personal price she paid for power.

Meryl Streep says she was playing a human being not an icon and was looking for what there was in common with an audience watching.

We have followed the public story of Maggie Thatcher born in 1925 and Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 until 1990. During her leadership of the United Kingdom parliament she ruled with strength, determination and guts. She was dubbed the ‘Iron Lady’, while Leader of the Opposition by the Russian Ministry of Defense. She liked the title. She was not afraid to make unpopular decisions if it was what she perceived was good for the country. “Thatcherism” became a household description for her political style of government and extended to future governments that followed Margaret Thatcher.

Can “The Iron Lady” portray Thatcher, a woman who was at once loved and despised on account of her political beliefs; capture the heart and soul of this tenacious, iconic lady? The New York Film Critics Circle has already had a sneak preview and given Meryl Streep a Best Actress Award for her role in the film. Thatcher’s children have also commented on the film and are less effusive in their praise of the mother’s portrayal but of course this is to be expected as they lived the reality and nothing could ever come close.

We will be delighted to have such a personal glimpse of one of the great leaders of our time – and a woman at that. Oscar Potential – rumors are out but lets see the film first.