Phyllida Lloyd, who directed Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, takes a less exuberant tack in this unexpectedly poignant biopic. In the script, written by Shame's Abi Morgan, Lloyd depicts the elderly Dame Thatcher (Streep in a thoroughly convincing performance) as a frail figure replaying key moments in her life while her mind still continues to function. Her trajectory begins with grocer Alfred Roberts (Downton Abbey's Iain Glen), who became the mayor of Grantham, instilling in his daughter, Margaret (Alexandra Roach), a passion for politics. After graduating from Oxford,... she felt ready to enter the fray, at which point she met Denis Thatcher (Harry Lloyd), who cheered her along on the road from Parliament to 10 Downing Street, where they lived during her time as Britain's first female prime minister (Jim Broadbent portrays the grey-haired and ghostly Denis). While closing mines, dodging IRA hits, and overseeing a war, the blue-clad titan built alliances with Airey Neave (Nicholas Farrell) and Geoffrey Howe (Anthony Head), but she would lose them both. If her will was strong, she had no time for feminine niceties like conciliation and forgiveness. The film goes on to suggest that she never cultivated the kinds of female friendships that might have sustained her in retirement, though her daughter (Tyrannosaur's Olivia Colman) did what she could. Instead, Denis remained her closest confidante until his departure, after which she had nothing but fading memories. The upshot is an uneasy combination of admiration for her leadership qualities and disappointment in her interpersonal skills. --Kathleen C. Fennessy [show more]
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Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Nominated for 4 BAFTAS including Leading Actress and Supporting Actor The Iron Lady starring Award-Winning Meryl Streep tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power and is a surprising and intimate portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman Actors Meryl Streep Harry Lloyd Jim Broadbent Anthony Head Richard E Grant Roger Allam Susan Brown Olivia Colman Nick Dunning Julian Wadham Alexandra Roach Russell Balogh Richard Dixon & Hugh RossDirector Phyllida LloydLanguages English
Biopic starring Meryl Streep in an Oscar-winning performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher's life and political career are portrayed in flashback from the perspective of her later years as she struggles with Alzheimer's disease and grieves for her recently-deceased husband, Dennis (Jim Broadbent). The film traces her life from her childhood years in the family grocer's shop through to her graduation from Oxford, her early working life and her decision to enter politics. Her eleven-year stint in office is marked not only by her strictly conservative and hard-nosed leadership style, which earn her the nickname 'The Iron Lady', but also by spending cuts, strikes, the introduction of an unpopular poll tax and the Falklands War. Later, as her premiership is called into question, her previously loyal cabinet members - including Michael Heseltine (Richard E. Grant) and Geoffrey Howe (Anthony Head) - turn against her one by one, leading ultimately to her political downfall in 1990. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Make-Up.
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