The Iron Lady 

Margaret Thatcher is without doubt one of the most divisive and controversial figures in recent history: she evokes visceral hatred in many people, counterbalanced by something approaching hero worship in others. It isn't the place of a film review to delve into deeply entrenched political controversies, suffice it to say that this country is largely what it is today because of her - good or bad - take your pic?

How then could a film attempt to summarise all this and make good drama out of it?

The answer is that this isn't a political film at all. Of course, all the big events are shown, like the miner's strike, the Falklands War, the yuppie era, the Poll Tax and the "stab in the back" - but they are merely a backdrop to the main story, which is about the fragility of the human condition when faced by the ravages and passage of time and of the loss of loved ones.

The political events are important of course - without them there wouldn't be any point in the film, as I doubt that a film about my grandmother and her struggle with Alzheimers would have got many tickets sold. The political events are shown in a newsreel type montage, and no comment or opinion is given, which is just as well. I found the pictures of the Falklands War to be very moving and I was in tears - not from any political inclination but because it took me back 30 years and it was almost like my Mum and Dad were in the room talking about the news with me.

What makes the film so good is its study of the effects of age, dementia, the loss of supreme power and the loss of a lifelong companion on a famous historical figure. It has been said that the film is disrespectful and shouldn't have been made whilst it's subject is still alive. I see the point, but I feel that it has actually been done in the best of taste and with much feeling. I don't think that anyone from Mrs Thatcher's family could really object, because apart from anything else it portrays as her as a normal old lady, full of love for her children and husband, anxious about her loss of faculties and thinking back on her career (good or bad). I wouldn't say it showed her as "caring" in particular, but it did show a very human side and all the frailties and anxieties that go with it.

The first few minutes of the film are extremely strong - Mrs Thatcher, ravaged by age and dementia and no longer the battle hardened "iron lady" at all, ventures out and buys a bottle of milk from a corner shop - she is bemused and baffled by what is going on - the rude young man talking loudly on the mobile phone who barges in front of her - the impatient young girl tut tutting - the Asian shopkeeper who tries to be helpful but whom she just can't understand - the sheer hustle and bustle and anxiety and rudeness of it all - and more than anything, she just can't understand the price of the milk. In many ways, it can be argued that this is the world that she played a big part in creating - and the film goes on to show how it has very nearly eaten her up.

Marvellous stuff - don't miss it.