Thatcher's human side

I must admit, I was expecting The Iron Lady (released Dec 26) to be a hatchet job on its subject, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Mrs Thatcher was, after all, a hugely polarising figure and it would be fair to say that the culture industry's residual impression of her is one of an aloof, autocratic leader.

The surprise here is that this is a very human and very affectionate portrayal of an intense woman whose armour was thick and who went to considerable lengths to project strength during a time of great change and uncertainty.

The Iron Lady begins with Mrs Thatcher in old age. She is frail and vulnerable, having been has been weakened physically and mentally by strokes. She forgets recent events and remembers long ago events, such as the IRA bombings, which are contrasted with the London bombings in 2005 when the film is set.

As she slowly clears out the clothes of her late husband, Denis, the film introduces a series of these flashbacks to create the context for her triumphs and ultimately her downfall. The staring down of the militant trade union movement, her strength against the IRA terrorists, her determination during the Falkland War, her courage in her leadership of the Conservative Party and her country, and her obstinacy in pursuing a poll tax all invite the viewer to contrast the Iron Lady of Thatcher's reign with the frail old lady of the present.

Jim Broadbent is a humorous and supportive Denis Thatcher. His presence is a trick of Margaret Thatcher's mind brought about by the wardrobe clearing. I found that conjuring of a dead Denis distracting. If the point was to show a deteriorating mental state, it laboured the point.

I thought a strength of this film was that it sought to break down the brittle views people have of Mrs Thatcher and look at her (but not so much her achievements) in a fresh way.

I didn’t expect that for someone universally condemned by the Left, and even distanced by her own party, she was treated so humanly and fairly.

Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher is utterly convincing. Her Thatcher, as prime minister, is the Thatcher I recall and admired. Streep has the facial expressions, the voice, the energy and the look.

Her elderly Thatcher reminded me of my own, now passed away, mother as her health deteriorated after a series of strokes.

The elderly Margaret Thatcher evokes a sympathy that many will not expect to feel. I'm just not sure that Mrs T would approve but I did.

Judith Collins is Minister of Justice