The Woman

'The Lady'A EuropaCorp presentation of the EuropaCorp, Left Bank Pictures, France 2 Cinema co-production, using the participation of Canal Plus, France 2 Cinema, Telecine. (Worldwide sales: EuropaCorp, Paris.) Created by Virginie Besson-Silla, Andy Harries. Directed by Luc Besson. Script, Rebecca Frayn.Aung San Suu Kyi - Michelle Yeoh Michael Aris - David Thewlis Kim - Jonathan Raggett Alex - Jonathan Woodhouse"Democracy needs time to work," a personality observes in "The Woman,Inch though audiences of political stripes is going to be checking their watches throughout Luc Besson's dully conventional tribute to heroic Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi. Dramatizing the lengthy-term personal sacrifices produced by Suu Kyi and her family in courageous defiance of Burma's cruel military regime, this handsomely mounted picture is, at nearly 2 1/2 hrs, way too lengthy and indigestible for any film whose protagonist stays the majority of her screen time under house arrest. An advertising and marketing campaign emphasizing Michelle Yeoh's performance within the title role will precede moderate public reception. A prologue occur 1947 Rangoon represents the murder of Suu Kyi's father, Gen. Aung San, quite the hero to his people for that key role he performed in liberating Burma from British rule. Only 3 when her father is wiped out, Suu Kyi is next observed in 1988, like a beautiful, apparently lighthearted lady (now performed by Michelle Yeoh) residing in British domestic bliss together with her husband, Oxford academic Michael Aris (David Thewlis), as well as their two sons, Kim (Jonathan Raggett) and Alex (Jonathan Woodhouse). But Suu Kyi shows her inner strength when she's known as to Rangoon to look after her ailing mother, and it is horrified by fresh eruptions of violence and riots. Once the dictatorial Gen. Ne Win (Htun Lin) appears to bow towards the revolutionaries' demands, Suu Kyi's buddies and co-workers request her to remain in Rangoon and lead the emergent National League for Democracy, realizing the daughter from the late Gen. Aung San will make a effective figurehead for his or her cause. "This is actually the moment you usually thought will come,Inch Michael intones, a line that could confuse the naive, given how little from the couple's personal resolve for Burma has managed to get towards the screen. Getting made an appearance to concede, Gen. Ne Win and the callous military government plot to limit Suu Kyi's influence without making the error of martyring her. To help keep her from presuming her responsibilities after her landslide victory in Burma's first general election, they place her under house arrest for the following fifteen years, without any use of phones, newspapers or TV, and incredibly infrequent visits from her family people, who're barred from entering the nation at nearly every turn. Attracted from interviews with key figures near to Suu Kyi, Rebecca Frayn's first-created script is difficult-pressed to create an adequate portrait of either the woman or even the political firestorm by which she finds herself. As the momentous historic forces at the office happen to be naturally limited to match a 143-minute running time, the discourse need not happen to be so simplistic: While Gen. Ne Win barks orders at his uniform-clad minions, Suu Kyi impresses her supporters with pearls of knowledge like "Democracy is only going to work as we include everyone." The writing rarely increases above such platitudes, even just in casual conversation while British wasn't Suu Kyi's first language, surely her interactions together with her husband and youngsters were shipped with less stilted formality compared to they are here. Besson's direction is overall more staid and classical than a single would expect in the French action specialist, reinforcing the feeling of a complacent, risk-averse picture that appears to possess taken its filmmaking cues from the heroine's unflappable dignity. "The WomanInch constitutes a stylish spectacle of Suu Kyi's noble suffering without grasping, or inviting the viewer to understand, the political anger roiling beneath. A commanding screen presence, Yeoh inhales poise and moral authority in each and every scene when putting on flowers in her own hair, as she does frequently here, she's an image of loveliness. But because her role basically includes a number of elegant soundbites, the actress is not because of the assets to search far beneath Suu Kyi's couch potatoes surface. Nor is she in a position to illuminate the fierce inner struggle it has to took her to confront many years of isolation with sophistication and composure intact. The love story may be the film's most compelling element, as well as in their final moments particularly, Yeoh and Thewlis do begin a stirring feeling of this couple's unbreakable bond over greater than a decade's separation. Because he's more in the element vocally than Yeoh and given a wider selection of notes to experience, Thewlis really helps make the most powerful impression within the well-selected cast, though Raggett and Woodhouse also shine as two sensitive, well-elevated kids to whom the discomfort of parent-child separation showed up suddenly soon. Production is superbly put together, with Thai locations waiting in for Burma, although the action is basically limited to Michael's Oxford home and also the Rangoon estate that grew to become Suu Kyi's beautiful prison. Eric Serra's over-emphatic score is compounded with snatches of Pachelbel's "Canon in D," mainly throughout the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony where Suu Kyi is honored in absentia, among the couple of sequences here that realizes its emotional potential.Camera (Technicolor, widescreen), Thierry Arbogast editor, Julien Rey music, Eric Serra music supervisor, Alexandre Mahout production designer, Hugues Tissandier art company directors, Stephane Robuchon, Gilles Boillot, Thierry Zemmour, Dominque Moisan set designer, Tissandier costume designer, Olivier Beriot seem (DTS/Dolby Digital), Didier Lozahic, Ken Yasumoto seem designer, Ken Yasumoto visual effects supervisor, Alain Carsoux visual effects, Duran Duboi connect producer, Jean Todt assistant director, Ludovic Bernard casting, Fiona Weir, Raweeporn "Non" Jungmeier. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Gala Presentations), Sept. 12, 2011. Running time: 143 MIN.With: Susan Wooldridge, Benedict Wong, Htun Lin, Agga Poechit. (British, Burmese dialogue) Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com