Witness the Tragic Love and Incredible Life of The Lady

Shot under a veil of secrecy due to the sensitive nature of its subject, "The Lady," an inspiring drama based on the life of the Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, has finally finished filming and is ready to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month, also expected to be screened at a number of international film festivals in the fall before widely release in theaters everywhere. Inspired by one of the greatest love stories set against a background of political turmoil that still continues to this day, “The Lady” is the extraordinary story of how Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband Michael Aris gave up their happiness at great cost when the wife's country called upon her. Yet despite distance, long separations, danger and an actively hostile regime their love endured until the end. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi had been unjustly detained by the government of Myanmar (Burma) for 15 out of the past 21 years. She was released on November 13, 2010, after her latest 7 year term of detention expired and French director Luc Besson swiftly, and reasonably quietly, made a movie about her starring one of the most acclaimed Asian actresses Michelle Yeoh. But many quickly judge the film as another propaganda-ish political drama while in fact, since the first ever draft of the script penned by Rebecca Frayn, it was conceived to tell the incredible yet poignant love story between Aung San Suu Kyi and her late husband Michael Aris. It’s not a total biopic either since the story will only be set between 1988 – when Aung San Suu Kyi left Oxford to visit her sick mother and ended up staying – and 1999, the year when Aris died after being diagnosed with cancer. Aris had been forbidden from entering Burma, a decision that left Aung San Suu Kyi with the almost impossible decision of whether to stay or go. “The film builds to that incredible and depressing crossroads ,” said the movie producer Andy Harries who with his novelist and screenwriter wife, Frayn, visited Burma back in the early 1990s when Suu Kyi had just won the election but was under house arrest.
"It's not just a political story - it's a tragic love story. This is a woman educated at Oxford, married to an Englishman and who has two sons. She goes to her homeland to help for a few months and it turns into a 20-year house arrest," Harries added. "It's a love triangle. She is torn between her love of her country, which looks to her as a symbol of hope, and her family. Her husband, who spent 10 years campaigning for her, died of cancer having been denied entry to see her and she still remains estranged from her children. "Filmed largely in Thailand and Burma, whose beautiful cities, fecund jungles and diverse cultures fill the screen with dynamic colour and rich detail, “The Lady” tells the story of one of the world's most prominent prisoners of conscience, Aung San Suu Kyi's simultaneous triumph and tragedy. Michelle Yeoh eloquently embodies Suu Kyi's tranquil defiance and wisdom -- yet her political struggle is only half of the story. Played with great tenderness by David Thewlis, Michael Aris was Suu Kyi's British husband and tireless advocate, and he is the film's second protagonist. Through the months and years he and Suu Kyi were unable to be see one another, Aris worked to raise awareness of injustice in Burma and campaigned for his wife's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (which she won, though she was unable to accept it in person), all the while suffering her absence, struggling with his own illness and trying his best to be a good father to their two sons.
At once epic and intimate, disturbing and galvanizing, “The Lady” celebrates the struggle of a people and the difference that a single strong-willed individual can make in the world.# The story was written over a period of three years by Rebecca frayn. Interviews with key figures in Aung san suu Kyi's entourage enabled her to reconstruct for the first time the true story of Burma's national heroine.

# The tentative titles of the film were “The Divided Heart” and “Freedom From Fear”. It also originally titled as “Into The Light” before renamed to “The Lady” later.

# The title of the film, "The Lady," is the name by which Aung San Suu Kyi is known by the Burmese people who see her as a beacon of grace and courage against the odds, and who risk incurring the wrath of the authorities for publicly uttering her name.

# Production began in Thailand on October 18th under the French title "Dans La Lumiere" (Into the Light). It was kept as a top secret. Some of the actors did not even know who they would be playing when flying to Bangkok. According to French media, director Luc Besson had been working on the film project in the summer, and all participants were required to sign confidentiality agreements.

# Shooting took place in Bangkok and nearby locations, including Muang Thong Thani, Khlong Song in Pathum Thani, and the old Bangkok airport. Filmmakers used Thailand to stand in for Burma, and hundreds of Thai people were hired to portray Burmese, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper.

# The movie project has been brought to director Luc Besson by Michelle Yeoh because she appreciated him for having directed films about strong women before. Besson took the project on but admitted doubts.

# Although always been petite, Michelle still lost weight for this role. Asked about her commitment she described the film as "an incredible love story" against the background of "political turmoil". Paris Match shared her opinion by saying it was an extraordinary story of love between her deceased husband Michael Aris and a woman who sacrifices her personal happiness for her people. “It's a factual movie. We are not trying to demonize or glorify anybody. We do not try to change, because it is an incredible love story to start off with, but then I think anything to do with her will always have to be political,” said Michelle.

# Michelle Yeoh not only strongly resembles the lissome Nobel laureate, but also occupies the part so convincingly that Besson calls it 'perfect for her.'

# Many people commented that Michelle and Aung San Suu Kyi look very much alike. Asked about how similar they are, Michelle said after meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi she indeed felt they have a similar build and looks. She revealed that at one point they were curious who was taller and so they took off shoes and compared their heights - "We have the same height!"

# Michelle had a chance to meet Aung San Suu Kyi personally toward the end of the Thailand shooting last December. She recalls they had great time together. She said meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi was like visiting an auntie. "She is very nice, frank and straight forward," said Michelle. "She talked about the times during her house arrest. She is elegant, smart, strong, and talented." Michelle said that Aung San Suu Kyi had seen some of her action films before. Kim Aris, Suu Kyi's younger son who was on the filming set, is a fan of Michelle and even jokingly suggested they should add some action scenes to the film.

# Michelle revealed that she did a lot of research personally in order to portray the role of Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She had collected a lot of materials, read almost 50 books, and listened to many interviews. She said she was not trying to imitate Aung San Suu Kyi. She was trying to understand her. "I feel very proud to play the character of such an influential woman," said Michelle.

# The movie crew created an exact replica of the house in which Suu Kyi was imprisoned for 15 of the last 22 years, from 2,000 photographs, even using Google Earth to check the dimensions and the position of the trees. Besson says: "You should have seen the face of her son when he came to see it. He couldn't believe it. He looked everywhere and the only thing he said was, 'The piano was not here, it was over there.'"

# The first poster for the film designed by American contemporary artist Shepard Fairey (of the Obama poster) based on his own previous poster for Aung San Suu Kyi in June 2009 when the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate turned 64.
"The film makers asked me to do the movie poster based on my original Aung San Suu Kyi poster, but the illustration is of Michelle Yeoh, the actress who plays [her]. Any project that tells Aung San Suu Kyi's story and sheds light on Burma, I'm psyched to support. The small clips of the film I've seen look amazing." Fairey explained.

# Myanmar government has now put Michelle on a blacklist and denied her entry into Myanmar/Burma. She was deported the same day as she arrived at Yangon on June 22, 2011.

Sources: Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Left Bank Pictures