The Lady

Directed by French filmmaker Luc Besson, ‘The Lady’ is the true story of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese opposition politician and human rights campaigner who was placed under house arrest for her views by the tyrannical Burmese dictatorship in 1989, months before she would win the 1990 general election. She spent the next 21 years under house arrest, and the film tells the story of her struggle to promote democracy in her country, and the toll it took on her personally, particularly in her marriage to British writer Michael Aris (David Thewlis), from whom she was separated.

There’s no doubt that the story of Suu Kyi is worthy of an epic retelling, however director Luc Besson (more used to ambitious projects such as ‘The Fifth Element’ and the quite lovely ‘The Adventures of Adele Sec-Blanc’) seems to tread a very fine line that maximises the amount of reverence given to its subject, but at a cost of producing anything that interesting. The film drags and drags, and although incredibly sincere in its efforts, never grabs you in the way this kind of movie should. Perhaps the problem is the real life figure is overwhelmingly good- great for history, not so great for film.

Any biopic worth its salt should create a debate about the character- music biopics have this down to an art, with both ‘Ray’ and ‘Walk The Line’ portraying the dark side of the musical geniuses they portrayed- However if your hero has no dark side to explore then what you have is something very worthy but, sadly, quite trying over a two and a half hour period. You nod along with every Oscar- worthy speech, and are almost moved to boo in a pantomime-like fashion the evil Burmese tyrants who put her in this situation, but a discussion is not offered on any part of this story. That is not to say Suu Kyi’s character should be picked apart for the purposes of drama, but you do leave feeling that the only message you can take away is that Suu Kyi is a very, very courageous and good person- something we already knew.

The human angle is explored by the hindered, long-distance relationship between Suu Kyi, played very well by Michelle Yeoh (who seems a perfect fit for the part), and her husband Aris, equally well portrayed by David Thewlis. This particular part of her story is perhaps the ultimate display of her sacrifice (they met only five times between her arrest and his death in 1998, during which she was faced with the difficult choice of leaving Burma to visit him when he was severely ill, but risk never being allowed back in by the authorities). Instead it is used merely to highlight her struggle, something that is(that word again) worthy but does little to highlight the woman behind the legend.

Overall a faithful and respectful biopic, and one that would serve anybody looking for a ‘beginners guide’ to Suu Kyi, however Besson is too afraid to take risks with either his storytelling or leading actors, resulting in a movie that you are likely to agree with from beginning to end, but struggle to engage with at any point.

Released December 30