ARTICLE

Michelle Yeoh is banned from entering Burma. Still, she wants you to know a great lady...

By InCinemas / 29 Feb 2012 (Wednesday)

Burma may be a neighbouring country in Southeast Asia, yet it seems like nobody really bothers to give a hoot. International star Michelle Yeoh hopes to change all that with her new film, The Lady, a biopic that got her ejected from Burma when she tried to visit the country again.

The Malaysian actress plays arguably Asia's most courageous and respected woman - Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and the pro-democracy figurehead of Burma for more than twenty years.

Now you might ask: So what? I'm not concerned. Why should I watch The Lady?
I asked myself these same questions. But after catching the film, I understood the reason to be this simple: It is a story we must know, as Asians, and as human beings of the free world.

[Film still from The Lady]

If we ever believe in the fight for freedom, for democracy, for the desire to be free from oppression and suppression, and for our right to live our lives as decent human beings, then The Lady is a film we must see.

You may find the subject matter uninteresting, but let Michelle Yeoh, a familiar face to all of us, be an entry point to lead you into a very human story.

[Image of Michelle Yeoh (left) in The Lady, and Aung San Suu Kyi]

Yeoh reportedly watched 200 hours of footage of Suu Kyi in preparation for her role. "I watched her nuances, her body language, her patience," she said. Yeoh also had to master the Burmese language, which she found a tremendous challenge.

Covering events up to 2007, The Lady centers on one of the lesser known aspects of the 66-year-old Suu Kyi's life: Her marriage to British academic Michael Aris (played by David Thewlis) and their two children.

(Read InCinemas Review of The Lady here - by Eternality Tan)

"We are telling the love story of Aris and his wife, the story of a beautiful, lush country, and the emotions of a mother. It's our duty as filmmakers to give you that emotional ride rather than to teach you politics," explained Yeoh.

[Watch the trailer for The Lady here!]

The Lady is banned in Burma, but there have been reports that the pirated version of the film has been an underground hit in the closed country. French director Luc Besson, who was daring enough to shoot some parts of The Lady in Burma, revealed, "I actually hope the film will be pirated in Burma. In fact, they have my blessing to pirate the movie there, because they’re not allowed to see anything. If that is the only way they are able to see that film, then that will be okay with me."

[Image of a beautiful scene from The Lady]

The Lady won the 'International Human Rights Film Award' at the Cinema for Peace 2012 gala at Berlin International Film Festival. It opens InCinemas 1 March 2012. Rating to be advised.

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Michelle Yeoh is banned from entering Burma. Still, she wants you to know a great lady...