Film Review: The Lady

Directed by: Luc Besson. Stars: Michelle Yeoh, David Thewils, Jonathan Raggett. Written by: Rebecca Frayn. Released:  2012.

I must shamefully admit that I do not know the exact details and the politics behind the story of Aung Suu Kyi.  All I know from the little I’ve seen from the news is that for complicated political reasons, Aung Suu Kyi was under house arrest from 1989 until 2010 by the government of Burma for her role in the country’s democracy movement.  Her fight gained international recognition and was awarded the Nobel Prize for it. The Lady focuses more on her rise in the political movement and her relationship with her husband, Oxford University professor of Tibetan and Himalayan studies, Dr. Michael Aris.

You have to be careful when it comes to ‘biopics’. In the end it is a genre of film and a story that is rooted in reality. You have to question the motivations and accuracy. I have mentioned before that I believe that film can be used as an educational tool and as a gateway to learn about a historical event, person, culture etc, and this film would fall into that as well.

The film is filled with lovely cinematography that attempts to show the historic beauty of Burma’s landscape (although filmed in Thailand for obvious reasons) along with the harsh poverty and slums. With it being a political story, there are graphic scenes of the rebellion and violence that is important to a film like this.  Not completely surprising from director Luc Besson, who is known for films such as The Fifth Element and Leon: the Professional.

Knowing little about the real story and only seeing the trailer months ago, one of the biggest and pleasant surprises of The Lady was the love story between Aung and Michal. Their story of happy highs and devastating lows, bounded by a vision for a country made my eyes start to water by the end (and that doesn’t happen often). The key to that is the chemistry between Michelle Yeoh and David Thewils. Add that since Aung’s house arrest in 1989 and 1999, they (along with their two sons) saw one another only five times. It is a beautiful aspect to his film and a wonderful tribute to both of them.

This leads me to the wonderful performances by the two, together and individually in the film. It makes me wonder why this film and their performances did not garner more recognition. 

The film does have a slow pace that took even me a bit to get into it that may not appeal to today’s audiences that are used to quicker editing and action sequences, along with being a little over two hours, it does ask for the audience’s attention and patience. In the end I found it worth it and rewarded with an emotional investment.