Review by Stu - The Lady
Oscar bait is a term often used when describing overly sentimental films and their nausea inducing trailers. You’ve seen these trailers before, they usually hit cinemas in the months prior to the major film festivals or, of course, the Oscars. Note the bombastic score, heavy themes and they mostly like to throw in a terminal illness or grand feat of the human spirit for good measure. Basically after seeing these films you just want to go home and reassess the meaningfulness of your life. Regrettably and frustratingly The Lady, the latest film by Luc Besson, has to be filed under this category. A film which should have been a beacon for hope and justice has sadly missed the mark so far that in a way it almost diminishes the true life events that the film is based upon, namely the life of Burma’s democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her continual struggle against political oppression.