THE LADY (2011)

Genre: Drama/Biography
Director: Luc Besson
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Jonathan Raggett, Jonathan Woodhouse, Susan Wooldridge, Benedict Wong
Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Rating: NC-16
Released By: Golden Village Pictures & Homerun Asia
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 March 2012

Synopsis: A biopic of Burmese pro-democracy politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. It will chart her remarkable journey from housewife bringing up her children in Oxford to taking on the power of Burma's generals by becoming opposition leader. It will be set between 1988 - when Aung San Suu Kyi left Oxford to visit her sick mother and ended up staying - and 1999, the year Aris died after being diagnosed with cancer. Aris had been forbidden from entering Burma, a decision that left Aung San Suu Kyi with the almost impossible decision of whether to stay or go.

Movie Review:

There is a deeply inspirational tale at the heart of Luc Besson’s biography on the Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, but too little rises above the humdrum in ‘The Lady’. His good intentions notwithstanding, Besson is quite out of his league of slick B-grade action thrillers- centred though some of them may be around equally strong-willed women (a la ‘Nikita’ or ‘Colombiana’)- in this portrayal of the Nobel Peace Prize winner that demands elegance and finesse.

Instead, Besson navigates his titular character’s emotional beats with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, coercing rather than coaxing the intended response from his audience. Yes, Besson’s over-emphatic attempt at getting us to feel indignant towards the atrocities committed by the military junta in 1988 in order that we identify with Suu Kyi’s decision to abandon her suburban life of bliss and remain in Yangon is histrionic to say the least- and undermines the inherent power of the proceedings.

And like we said, this is supposed to be a powerful and stirring story of a woman who made the ultimate sacrifice of family in order to fight for the right to democracy for the people of Burma. At any point during her 15 years of house arrest, Suu Kyi could just as easily have returned to her ailing husband, the Oxford academic Michael Aris (David Thewlis), and their two sons, Kim (Jonathan Raggett) and Alex (Jonathan Woodhouse)- but there she stayed, both as a show of solidarity for her incarcerated political party members as well as a symbol of hope for the people of her nation to keep up the good fight.

Rebecca Frayn’s screenplay has all that- from the point she returns to Burma to see her dying mother after spending the most of her past years abroad, to the point she is denied of her rightful landslide victory in the country’s first general elections, and right up to the point ten years later when she is denied of seeing Michael for the last time before he passes away- but these details are lost in clumsily-scripted dialogue that is too content at rattling off platitudes about the merits of democracy and courage in the face of oppression.

If Frayn’s screenplay proves clunky, so is Besson’s direction. Too much time is spent on the ‘events’ and too little on the character beats, so much so that the portrait of Suu Kyi that emerges is that of a woman who was simply led along by her circumstance, rather than one who wrestled with her circumstance and got the better of it. It’s telling when you realise that after all is said and done, you haven’t yet understood the person behind the icon- and that is the case with Suu Kyi after sitting through more than two hours of the significant happenings in her life.

The lack of clarity is a pity, because Michelle Yeoh gives the crowning performance of her career in the leading role here. Projecting the right mix of steeliness and vulnerability, Yeoh is every bit the measure of grace and poise that the character demands. She also moves seamlessly between English and Burmese, a testament to the hard work she must have put into the preparation work for this movie. Despite Yeoh’s best efforts at trying to illuminate her character’s inner struggles, she is ultimately undone by a movie that is too preoccupied with the larger workings around her.

Another thing besides casting Yeoh that Besson gets right is in choosing veteran British actor Thewlis as her husband. Despite his wife’s predicament, Thewlis exudes composure and reason in a nuanced performance as the key supporting pillar in Suu Kyi’s life. Yeoh and Thewlis are excellent in their scenes together, and their natural chemistry as husband and wife goes a long way in emphasising the toll of Suu Kyi’s struggle on the family, especially during his last days when he is denied of his one last wish of seeing her.

Even if their love story proves compelling, a biography on Suu Kyi should offer many more glimpses into the heart and mind of a truly exceptional woman who embodied the very spirit of fortitude and perseverance. There is so much more to Suu Kyi than what ‘The Lady’ offers, and so much better a movie about her life could have been than something that is as generic as the very title of this film. 

Movie Rating:

(An exceptional performance by Michelle Yeoh can’t quite save this biopic about a luminous pro-democracy icon from languishing in mediocrity)

Review by Gabriel Chong