Posted on 03/20/2007 8:41:13 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative
A movie about former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the run-up to the 1982 Falklands War is being planned.
Pathe and BBC Films are developing a script for a drama-documentary about the tense political period before the conflict between the UK and Argentina.
It is being produced by Damian Jones, who was behind the recent film version of Alan Bennett's The History Boys.
Last month, another high-profile biopic, of Queen Elizabeth II, won Dame Helen Mirren an Oscar for best actress.
'Crucial period'
"The proposed film will be a revealing and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher as she battles to save her career in the 17 days immediately preceding the war," Pathe said in a statement.
"The 17-day period is relevant because it was the duration of the British fleet's voyage to the Falklands.
Margaret Thatcher was prime minister from 1979-1990 "During that period, Thatcher had to confront her private fears, face down the men who doubted her and forge the image that even today casts a shadow across the political landscape."
Iain Dale, author of a Baroness Thatcher tribute book, described the era as "a crucial period" during her 11 years in Downing Street.
"It was the closest she came to nearly being toppled, certainly in her first term," he said.
"It was a very emotional time for Margaret Thatcher, so I think there'll be plenty of dramatic effect that the film-makers can use," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
The war "confirmed her image as the Iron Lady and almost guaranteed that she won the next election", he added.
"It was actually a vital time in the whole history of the Thatcher government because it almost made her, to quote her own words, unassailable."
Any actress playing the lead role would need to master the way the former prime minister sounded, according to Steve Nallon, who impersonated her on TV satire Spitting Image.
"What they've got to distinguish is the voice that Mrs Thatcher has for Parliament and the voice that she would have had in private," he said.
"That would be the difficulty - finding that private Mrs Thatcher that, frankly, the cameras never saw."
Uh oh... the History Boys is about a bunch of kids in a UK prep school and a teacher who likes to fondle the boys. And it is quite sympathetic to the teacher too...
One thing for sure is, it will be a revisionist history thing, with her "knowing" there were alternatives to the falklands war..
the bolsheviks always like to change history in strange, inexplicable ways.
What Bolsheviks?
FYI
I think Cate Blanchette could pull it off..makeup could age her.she may be too tall, but she's a fantastic character actress..Her Oscar winning depiction of Kate Hepburn was awesome..who else is there?
I consulted my Webster's dictionary (1968)on this term. First of all it indicates that group that took power in Russia circa 1917/18. (As you know). The secondary usage is as follows.
(3)loosely, any radical:hostile usage..... characteristic of,or like the Bolsheviks.
I, myself (taking a lighter tone) would use it to describe some of the absolute rotters at the BBC. My liberal spouse has on a popular BBC show (she says it is BBC). It is called "Foyle's War". It is of a detective in WW2. It happens a murder is investigated every week.
Yesterday, it showed a "war hero" and a "conscientious objector" arguing in a public house. The two arrange to fight it out a midnight. The "war hero" is found dead. It followed the "war hero" was a lying, cheating scoundrel and got a medal, under false pretences.He was a wife beater to boot. The killer was not the "conscientous objector".
I grant that this is a long screed. I simmered as I tried to ignore their rotten revisionist history.
Bolsheviks indeed. (laughs)
'What Bolsheviks?'
The ones at the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation presumably! :D
Morgan Fairchild!
The BBC specializes in these sort of classy dramas.
Should make for a good film!
I was fortunate enough to be thanked personally by Mrs Thatcher (as she was then) for my efforts in helping the Conservatives win the 1987 election. I still have the handwritten letter in pride of place over my desk.
I hope the film focuses on the splendid support we received from Reagan and Weinberger and equally condemns the many Republicans who tried to force us to negotiate sovereignty with the invading aggressors. Maggie would have none of it and was completely vindicated. How attitudes to war have changed in the US since then! :)
I thought "The Queen" was much ado about nothing. The hero, strangely enough, was Tony Blair.
Helen Mirren.
I suggest that Patricia Neal would make the perfect Thatcher, that is , if she is not too old for the part. I just saw her a few nights ago on an interview and she still was sharp and looking good and doesn't look that much different than Mrs. Thatcher.
Yep. Easy call. She is brilliant.
She's too old..
Seen it.
Foyle's War is ITV (Independent Television) - nothing whatever to do with the BBC
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