Decrepit and on the brink of dementia, The Iron Lady portrays the crumbling mind of Margaret Thatcher. The film begins with Thatcher (Meryl Streep) sitting for breakfast with her husband (Jim Broadbent). Only when her assistant arrives does the audience realise that Denis exists merely in her imagination. Such is the pivotal theme of the film as Thatcher’s deteriorating mind flashes between her past and the acceptance of her husband’s death.
Flashbacks motor the plot as the audience is taken through Thatcher’s life and experiences. From scrambling into the cellar during a wartime raid, to losing her position as Prime Minister, director Phyllida Lloyd attempts to portray Thatcher’s entire political career. Consequently, such flashblacks appear thin and incomplete as 20 years of history is crammed into the time available. Streep’s performance however, is sublime. The silvery voice, the steady finger; her impersonation of Thatcher is sheer perfection. Streep’s impressive impersonation carries the film.
Whilst Thatcher loyalists will resent her portrayal as an ageing figure losing her sanity, they miss the point. The portrayal of the young Thatcher is one of reinvention in an effective conservative propaganda
biopic.
3 STARS