“The Lady” is essentially a love story, about Aung San Suu Kyi, (Michelle Yeoh), the Burmese freedom fighter and Nobel Peace prize winner who challenged her country’s oppressive military junta and the enduring love between Suu Kyi and her English husband, Michael Aris (David Thewlis), a professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Oxford. The movie covers the Burmese student protests of the late 1980s; the violent reprisals by the military; the intimidation tactics intended to suppress the blossoming democratic movement led by Suu Kyi; her 15 years of house arrest in her family home even after she was lawfully elected president; and the military leaders’ continuing refusal to acknowledge international pressure to transition to a people’s government. Suu Kyi made tremendous sacrifices for her political convictions at the cost of being separated from her family and unable to be with her husband even as he was dying of cancer.
The weaknesses of the movie, directed by actioner Luc Besson, is its overly long running time (2 hours, 25 minutes) and the fact that many of the events in Suu Kyi’s life seem to be elements on a checklist. The shocking injustices the Burmese people faced and continue to face today should strike emotional chords, but, for some reason, Rebecca Frayn’s script remains detached. More successful is the depiction of Michael’s unwavering devotion and tireless campaigning on his wife’s behalf. Yeoh radiates a quiet strength, emphasizing Suu Kyi’s nickname ‘the steel orchid.’ As Myanmar (Burma) appears in headlines today, “The Lady” gives you the background you need to know to be concerned about what’s happening in that tiny country. 11/2/11
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