The Lady (2012)

I was unfamiliar with the story of Aung San Suu Kyi prior to watching this movie. Now that I've watched it, this is still the case.Unfortunately I have to provide another eight lines of text for this review to be published, but what more is there to say? Why Aung San Suu Kyi and her party did not take power following the election success was not explained at all, neither was her initial rise to prominence or any other major point. I was constantly having to fill these 'holes' in my head; I had to guess at what was happening. Wikipedia does a better job of explaining it! The situation and relevant history of Burma was completely ignored giving no starting point to refer to at all.The producers were clearly unable to fit Aung San Suu Kyi's story into a movie-length episode. They shouldn't have even bothered trying because they made a real hash of it.

The movie should be watched because:1. It is based on a true story which should be told. 2. The movie teaches us that one people can inspire the world,and a group of dedicated people sooner or later can change the world. 3. Great things can be achieved but great sacrifices will be made. 4. Great acting. 5. For when we are standing in our righteousness,there is nothing to fear even death.Memorable quote: "Please Use Your Liberty to Promote Ours". Aung San Suu Kyi

i was waiting for someone to make a movie about this very remarkable lady and finally it came through... the staring hero was an obvious though very good choice however there are somethings that the movie failed to achieve i believe:-we did not fall in love with the country in dispute (Burma)the movie hardly came up with any historical events/facts that would bring the audience to understand the place-beside the"lady" and her family there are hardly any other character that you could remember after the movie, we realize this is a biography but the struggle was not her's alone -the way that (Burma) was captured on Camera was just to emphasis the stereo type about Asians -the movie would have a spectacular ending if they waited for sometime as the hero of our story dose indeed forms a government after the military hands over the power to her-comparing the movie to other remarkable ladies biography such as (the Iron Lady) and (the Queen) we find that this one is the least of the others in terms of direction and productionMuhannad Kalaji

As a producer, Luc Besson has been comfortably established in the action cinema for many years. However, as a director, we have been seeing him since 2005 working in such diverse genres as the romantic comedy (Angel-A), the fantasy (Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec) and the digital animation (the Arthur and the Minimoys saga)...with quite poor results. In his most recent film as a director, The Lady, Besson goes back to the historical biopic genre (which he had already explored in the excellent The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc) in order to focus his attention on another brave woman who contributed to the liberation of a Nation. The result is mediocre, but moderately interesting in general.The events portrayed in The Lady are fascinating, but they aren't easily adapted to the classical dramatic structures of cinema, and that makes the film a bit fragmented and occasionally dull. At the same time the films examines Aung San Suu Kyi as a reluctant political figure, we also have glimpses to the democratic movement in Burma (also known as Myanmar); to the domestic policy of the Nobel Prize Committee; to Michael Aris' complicated family life, raising two teenage sons during the mother's (Suu Kyi) absence; and to the corrupt military leaders from Burma, deciding the life or death of political prisoners through chance and superstition. Sure, all those divergent aspects are necessary in order to comprehend Suu Kyi's democratic crusade; and I also appreciate the fact that screenwriter Rebecca Frayn didn't simplify the story in order to make the film more commercial; but I also feel that there should have been a better defined dramatic arc, which integrated those divergent elements into a faithful and dramatically solid whole.Another problem I found in The Lady is that its story doesn't end, because Suu Kyi's work in Burma hasn't finished either, and as a consequence, the ending doesn't reach the dramatic climax I had been waiting for. In any case, we were handed that climax in little increments through the film. Nevertheless, despite being mediocre, The Lady managed to keep me moderately interested (with the exception of a few dull moments), and I think that that fact, along with the brilliant cinematography and the solid performances from Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis, are enough to make it worthy of a slight recommendation.