The Lady
Luc Besson
The story: Before getting embroiled in politics, Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) is happily married to academic Michael Aris (David Thewlis) and makes a home with him and their two sons in Oxford, England. A trip back to Rangoon to visit her dying mother proves pivotal and eventually leads to her non-violent campaign for human rights and democracy in her native Burma. She is subsequently placed under extended house arrest by the military government. (The movie refers to the country as Burma throughout. The military regime changed the country’s name to Myanmar in 1989.)

In the other current biopic of a famous female politician, Meryl Streep physically transforms into former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. It is a bravura performance that has just won her a Best Actress Oscar.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh’s turn may not be as dramatic but she emanates a dignified grace and a steely resolve that capture the essence of Aung San Suu Kyi as she goes from Oxford housewife to political leader.
Even with no make-up wizardry, there is a passing resemblance between the two. And impressively, she delivers key public speeches in Burmese, though admittedly, I have no idea how authentic they sound.
Suu Kyi’s destiny is mapped out for her by history. Her father Aung San had led Burma to independence and was assassinated in 1947 when she was just three.
But he has not been forgotten and on her return home from England, she finds his portrait being held aloft by those protesting against the military junta.
Interestingly, she espouses non-violent revolution despite being the daughter of a general. This is not something the movie dwells on beyond a scene of her reading a book on Indian leader Gandhi, suggesting she was influenced by his ideas.
It is something of a surprise to find French director Luc Besson – best known for his snazzy action thrillers such as Nikita (1990) and The Fifth Element (1997) – at the helm of this rather restrained drama, which is as much about politics as about love.
The bond between Suu Kyi and Michael (an excellent David Thewlis, left) is powerful and moving.
He is her pillar of strength through all the ups and downs. At one point, she says tenderly: “You really must be the most indulgent husband who ever lived.”
The film also illustrates the high price the Nobel Peace Prize laureate pays for her cause as her loved ones are deliberately kept apart from her.
They are denied entry visas to visit her in Burma, and she knows that if she leaves, she would never be allowed back.
When she is forced to choose between her country and her dying husband by the generals in power, her anguished, bitter response is: “What kind of freedom is that?”
The constant one-step-forward-two-steps- back momentum and the cycles of reunion and separation grow a little too familiar as the film progresses. And one can begin to imagine the immense frustrations that Suu Kyi herself must have felt.
She rebuffs the idea of a cult of personality in the film but The Lady is nevertheless a timely tribute to the courage of one extraordinary woman.
While the film is overtly political – it ends with her release from house arrest in 2010 and a plea from her: “Please use your liberty to promote ours” – it appears to have been overtaken by current developments.
Reforms in Burma have been progressing at a brisk pace since the general elections which took place in 2010.
(ST)