It wasn’t long into the film before I could begin to see why the Thatcher family had flat-out refused to watch the film, and why some of the critics had had more than a few reservations about it. The depictions of the elderly Iron Lady, frail and hallucinating, take up a good portion of the film – and they are uncomfortable to watch. It’s harrowing, haunting, and yet oddly funny at times. If this had been any other old woman, her doddering nature could have been hilarious. Instead you find yourself suppressing a laugh out of fear of being disrespectful.

Nonetheless, these scenes have a powerful impact. As they go on, it becomes difficult to ignore the nagging feeling at the back of your mind that what’s being played out on the screen will come to us all in the end. As Meryl Streep has been saying in many interviews, this is a film about growing old, and the loss of both our autonomy and the people we love. The film also acts as a particularly stark portrayal of the effects of power. We are shown the physical and mental consequences of a woman who fought every day of her life to get to the top, held on to power for 11 years, and then lost everything when she thought she could go on forever. When you get to the end you realise that the reason why you feel so uneasy is that it’s probably closer to the truth than we’d dare admit.

On to the politics, then, as this is a politics blog. It’s a shame that Mrs Thatcher’s career, and especially her premiership, couldn’t have had a greater focus. This is inevitably going to happen in a 1 hour 45 minute film, so on this, the film can be forgiven. The major events, such as Maggie getting into Parliament, the Falklands War, the Miner’s Strike, are all shown as a series of flashbacks, which are cleverly woven into the main thread. There are some very good, very artistic transitions to and from them, and the switch of focus never feels forced. Perhaps the biggest gripe I have with the film is that these sequences hurtle along at a hectic pace, rumbling through the events with barely a pause for explanation. For Thatcherites and keen followers of politics, this isn’t so much of a problem, but for the curious non-politicos, it might be a little difficult to keep up, especially for viewers who didn’t live through the ‘80s.

Nonetheless, these scenes are very well done, beautifully shot, and brilliantly acted. Despite the complaints of some critics, I can find no fault with the performances of any of the cast. Meryl Streep is as good as everyone has claimed, and will probably get that Oscar. Jim Broadbent is similarly brilliant, offering some great humour to alleviate the depressing nature of modern-day scenes. While a couple of characters at times begin to turn to caricature (Richard E. Grant’s Michael Heseltine especially verges on it), it becomes necessary in a limited time-frame in order to convey a point.

Yes, it probably shouldn’t have been made while the lady herself is still alive, but I don’t feel that detracts from it as a piece of cinema. Overall, The Iron Lady is an interesting film that is beautifully played, offering a snapshot of the woman behind the handbag. However, as my girlfriend, a diehard Thatcherite, said to me when the credits starting rolling, while it is a great film in itself, as a biopic of Margaret Thatcher, it leaves something to be desired.