The Iron Lady

Rating: 4
Release Date: 2nd March, 2012 (in India)
Time: 105 minutes
Director: Phyllida Lloyd; Writer: Abi Morgan; Music : Thomas Newman
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbrent, Anthony Head, Richard E Grant, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd

If I was watching a movie about the first woman PM of the Western world, the person who broke the trade unions, defied Europe, fought a war over Falklands and helped dismantle the Eastern Bloc, I would want the movie to focus on things I don’t already know. What in her upbringing, her circumstances, put the steel in her ? The ability to take tough calls, unwaveringly, unhesitatingly. And to know more about the unseen side, the personal side of the above events – what was her thought process, what opposition did she face, what were the circumstances leading to things coming to a head ?

However, this film, for some strange reason, decides to focus more on the Old Mrs Thatcher (MT), who is suffering from memory loss, who is still mourning for her husband, missing her wayward son and is a shadow of the person who transformed a nation. It merely skims past the above historic events, showing them in an extremely shallow fashion, and at the end we are left none the wiser…

Meryl Streep is brilliant, but when has she not been so ? Even fluffy films like ‘Its Complicated’ and ‘Julie & Julia’ show us how lucky we are to have this chameleonic performer in our midst and in this she seems to get the mannerisms of MT bang on. Jim Broadbent is very good as you would expect. And there are no other characters really shown or built in the film.

The Falklands, for instance, is the only situation which is shown in some detail. The opposition within her cabinet. The debate with the American secretary. It was interesting for the brief while it lasted. However what made her reputation was facing up to the trade unions. This gets just a few mentions in the film.. The IRA, apart from a couple of bombings shown, gets zero screen time. Her role with the end of the Cold War (it was after all the Soviets who gave her the titular sobriquet) almost zero.

Even on the personal side, while it hints at some minor discord between her husband and herself, and an issue with her daughter and a much bigger one with her son, it is again just the briefest of glimpses with no depth at all.

Misplaced focus. Its sad that the brilliance of the film poster doesn’t translate into celluloid. Instead of feeling awe for her, her leadership, her style, we instead feel depressed for the withering impact of age on her. Would rather have seen the inspirational side of her. The side that earned her the nickname, Iron Lady.

The Artist

Rating : 9/10
Release Date : 24th February, 2012 (India)
Time : 100 minutes
Director & Writer : Michel Hazanavicius; Music : Ludovic Bource
Starring : Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, James Cromwell, John Goodman

How do we deal with change ? Do we embrace it, resist it, ignore it ? And what about when we realize we are wrong ? Are we big enough to correct ourself or do we let our ego and pride get in the way ?

Fascinating questions, raised provocatively by a beautiful film and left elegantly upto us to answer as we deem fit.

Jean Dujardin is a big star of the silent movies era. He is also a nice person and seems to get along with everyone, except his wife. He dances well, has a charming air about him, has a great sense of humour and generally everything is going as great as it possibly could. He accidentally meets Berenice, helps her get a role as an extra and is nice to her. She has a crush on him but is not able to express her feelings directly. And then talking movies arrive. And things change…

The film is so amazingly well put together, so well shot, there are sequences which make you want to stand up and applaud much as you would applaud a painting that connects with you. The scene when Berenice enters his dressing room and caresses his suit. When he pours his drink over his reflection in the glass table. When he stands in front of the shop window in front of a suit.

There is a poignancy in the movie, a degree of romanticism that runs throughout the film. All actors excel in their performances. Jean is perfect, embodying the old world charm of that era. Berenice is amazing as the peppy, full of life person who takes to talkies like a fish to water. James Cromwell and John Goodman complete the cast with great acting in their pivotal roles. And special mention of the dog who plays a meaty role well, pun intended.

The minimalism of being a silent film and black and white seems to enhance the other senses – you notice the expressions, the photography, the little details and the excellent background score even more. It’s the perfect way to showcase a movie about the silent era, bringing back that charm and nostalgia as you watch events unfold. An unmissable film.

Black Swan

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 17th December, 2010
Time : 108 minutes
Director : Darren Aronofsky; Writer : Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin; Music : Clint Mansell
Starring : Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey

Does each one of us have the ability to have evil co-exist inside us ? To let the colours black and white cohabit internally ?



Black Swan is the story of a ballerina (Natalie Portman), a woman who really wants to be the next diva, a woman who aches for perfection and makes all the sacrifices required to attain it, a lady who is still Mama’s little girl. However, the role that’s up for offer requires her to be a white swan and a black one. To be pristine, pure alongside being lustful and lascivious. To be serene one moment and wildly seductive the next. It’ll mean letting go. It’ll mean not worrying about technique but going with the flow. It’ll mean abandoning the quest for perfection. Can she ?


Vincent Cassel, the imperious, abrasive man who runs the ballet troupe isn’t sure at all. He thinks she’s frigid. She does something to change his mind. But even then he’s not sure. She is fearful, searching for his approval, trying her hardest to relinquish control. And wishes she could be as natural and spontaneous as the new recruit, Lily. Who thinks nothing of downing a cheeseburger (‘make it bloody’), a few drinks and some of the pure stuff in one night, while flirting and fucking the men she meets on a night about town. Can she ?



Natalie is brilliant. No two ways about that. There is a certain innate shyness about her, a certain fragility that is naturally charming. She behaves French, if you know what that means. And communicates the struggle between good and evil beautifully.




There are other layers as well. The loneliness of being at the top. The conspiracy theories that always surround the person who’s reached there. The plots to replace that person. The whispers that surround any woman who over-achieves. Imagine a delicate, shy girl thrust in all of this and you can see what all Natalie’s character has to cope with…


However, the movie itself, am not that sure of. Its an interesting idea, a great concept. But it became a bit too hallucigenic, too disjointed in parts. And definitely too gory in others. And I’m not sure either was really required. I feel the same could’ve as easily been communicated in a more normal way.


This is a movie that has become great and is being watched because of the Oscar. Else, the film itself wouldn’t have caused much of a ripple at the box office. There is a certain sense of tragedy in the film, a darkness that envelops the characters. Even the joy is communicated through tears and not laughter. And as the character metamorphizes, as the mom asks tearfully ‘where is my sweet little girl ?’, the chilling answer is that she’s gone…

PS : When I look at the quality and composition of the Posters / Stills, for example the poster I've used at the top or photo with the red hue, the thought put behind it is just stunning ! Hats off to them...