Clashmusic Reviews2012-01-09 16:45

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady

Right. Let’s all please forget politics and just treat Phyllipa Lloyd’s biopic of Margaret Thatcher as a movie. Or even an epic collection of vignettes, hitting so many heights yet failing to soar.

So much is fantastic - Streep, naturally. She defines Thatcher’s character, with maternal grandeur, single-mindedness, tyrannical inclinations and startling softness. Afterwards we wonder if Maggie wasn’t indeed playing Meryl all along, in an uglier world. Sets, lighting and dress, all are sublime from these craftspeople who’ve shone in stellar years for British movies.

We glimpse at vicarious tales. An old lady woefully ignores her daughter (Olivia Colman, beautifully sincere) while struggling to let go of her dead husband; he encapsulated the power she no longer has. A hero conquers a sexist institution, reducing second-rate patronisers to sycophants. An unhinged dictator creates her own downfall.

Most are excellent. Few ever connect. It’s tragic; just when we’re captivated, just when they have us, a whirlwind of history, predictable news footage and hysterical music, blows us away. Had we just one of these as a feature, it would surely be a masterpiece. Instead we have a chain of deeply affecting trailers, to films we’ll never get to see.

7/10

Words by COLM FIELD

THE IRON LADY
DIRECTOR PHYLLIDA LLOYD
RELEASED JANUARY 6th
CERT 12A PATHÉ


Read full article at:
More articles from Clashmusic Reviews
Shabazz Palaces - Live At XOYO, London Dry The River - Live At Manchester Academy 3 The Horrors - Live At Chinnery's, Southend Lower Dens - Live At The Lexington, London The Shipwrights Sessions - Live At The Great Escape, Brighton Benga - Live At Horatio's, Brighton Poppy And The Jezebels - Live At The Queen Of Hoxton, London Tall Ships And Johnny Foreigner Poppy And The Jezabels - Live At The Queen Of Hoxton, London Haim - Live At The Shacklewell Arms, London Let's Get Lost Festival - Live At The Silk Mill, Derby
‹ Go back to news list
Your Ad Here

Browse by news source

Releases & DJ Charts
365Mag Albums 365Mag Singles Clashmusic Reviews DJmag Releases And Charts Kompakt Releases Resident Advisor Reviews
Scene News
365Mag News BPM Magazine News Clashmusic News DJmag News Jonty Skrufff News Kompakt News Mad Decent News Mixmag News Prefixmag News Resident Advisor News Resident Advisor The Feed Spinner Under The Radar News XLR8R News
Blogs
Cadenza Failme mnml mnml ssgs Testpressing.org
Interviews & Features
Clashmusic Features Ibiza Voice Resident Advisor Features
DJ Mixes
Club Rex Podcasts Minipower Mixes
Tech / Gear
Created Digital Music DJmag Tech News Electronicproducer Future Music Remix Mag
Radioshows / Podcasts
Fabric Podcasts M_nus Audio Podcast XLR8R Podcasts
Clubs
I Love Techno
Artist & DJ Bios
Kompakt Artist Bios
Event Dates
Kompakt Event Dates
Labels
Kompakt Labels
Sssend Blog

SSSEND.COM 2009
Feedback, questions, blog suggestions - winddub.com@gmail.com

we-are-football.com : sssend.com : winddub.com : oyo.lv

  URI STRING  
/posts/clashmusic-reviews-2012-jan-09-the-iron-lady
  CLASS/METHOD  
posts/viewpost
  MEMORY USAGE  
1,319,192 bytes
  BENCHMARKS  
Loading Time Base Classes  0.0011
Controller Execution Time ( Posts / Viewpost )  0.0094
Total Execution Time  0.0106
  GET DATA  
$_GET['/posts/clashmusic-reviews-2012-jan-09-the-iron-lady']  
  POST DATA  
No POST data exists
  DATABASE:  sssend   QUERIES: 6   
0.0002   SELECT *
FROM (`sssend_translations`) 
0.0008   SELECT sssend_sources.*, sssend_categories.name AS categoryname
FROM (sssend_sources)
LEFT JOIN sssend_categories ON sssend_categories.id = sssend_sources.category
WHERE `sssend_sources`.`active` = 'yes'
ORDER BY `name` ASC 
0.0004   SELECT sssend_posts.description, sssend_posts.id, sssend_posts.source, sssend_posts.date, sssend_posts.title, sssend_posts.slug_url, sssend_posts.permalink, sssend_posts.full_html, sssend_sources.name AS sourcename, sssend_sources.website AS sourceswebsite, sssend_sources.slug_url AS sourceslug
FROM (sssend_posts)
LEFT JOIN sssend_sources ON sssend_sources.id = sssend_posts.source
WHERE `sssend_posts`.`slug_url` = 'clashmusic-reviews-2012-jan-09-the-iron-lady'
LIMIT 1 
0.0002   UPDATE sssend_posts SET counter = counter+1, last_visited = '2012-05-20' WHERE `id` = '2949' 
0.0002   SELECT sssend_sources.*, sssend_categories.name AS categoryname
FROM (sssend_sources)
LEFT JOIN sssend_categories ON sssend_categories.id = sssend_sources.category
WHERE `sssend_sources`.`id` = '46'
AND `sssend_sources`.`active` = 'yes' 
0.0015   SELECT sssend_posts.id, sssend_posts.source, sssend_posts.date, sssend_posts.title, sssend_posts.slug_url, sssend_posts.permalink, sssend_posts.full_html, sssend_sources.name AS sourcename, sssend_sources.website AS sourceswebsite, sssend_sources.slug_url AS sourceslug
FROM (sssend_posts)
LEFT JOIN sssend_sources ON sssend_sources.id = sssend_posts.source
WHERE `sssend_posts`.`source` = '46'
ORDER BY date desc
LIMIT 11