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While in Melbourne, we went to a Gold Class cinema to see The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep.

I felt a bit weird at fiest reclining in my Lazy-Boy style seat with feet up, eating popcorn and drinking Coke. But the movie was so interesting, that I soon forgot my initial discomfort.

Nevertheless the movie started with the former British Prime Minister retired and suffering from dementia.

She sees and speaks to her deceased husband Dennis who had passed on 8 years previously. In her lucid moments she flashes back to the start of her political career.

It shows a young Margaret who fore goes outing with people her own age to attend political meetings (with only men in attendance) and working in her father’s grocery store.

All this foreshadows the type of political leader she would become. Strong. Not afraid to stand up to a room full of men and hard working – not feeling entitled to handouts.

And she expected the same from everyone else.

The movie looks at some personal aspects as well. Like her meeting her husband, some scenes with her twins – Mark and Carol. There are a few mentions of her husband going off to South Africa and her son Mark’s residency in SA at one point.

Meryl Streep is Margaret Thatcher in the film. You sometimes have to remind yourself that she isn’t the Iron Lady herself. Alexandra Roach plays the role of the young Margaret as you would imagine Margaret would have been in her younger days.

I enjoyed the sense of history and getting a glimpse of the inner workings of an era I was aware of, growing up in the 1980′s.

The movie was quite short – which I appreciated – what with every new movie seeming to be 3 hours long!

All in all a good night at the movies.