Summary. The film begins circa 2008 with an elderly Lady Thatcher buying milk unrecognized by other customers and walking back from the shop alone

The film begins circa 2008 with an elderly Lady Thatcher buying milk unrecognized by other customers and walking back from the shop alone. Over the course of three days we see her struggle with dementia and with the lack of power that comes with old age, while looking back on defining moments of her personal and professional life, on which she reminisces with her (now dead) husband, Denis Thatcher. She is shown as having difficulty distinguishing between the past and present. A theme throughout the film is the personal price which Thatcher has paid for power. Denis is portrayed as somewhat ambivalent about his wife's rise to power, her son Mark lives in South Africa and is shown as having little contact with his mother, and it is implied that Thatcher's relationship with her daughter Carol is at times strained.

In flashback we are shown Thatcher's youth, working in the family grocery store in Grantham, listening to the political speeches of her father, whom she idolized - it is also hinted that she had a poor relationship with her mother, a housewife - and announcing that she has won a place at the University of Oxford. She remembers her struggle, as a young lower-middle class woman, to break into a snobbish male-dominated Tory party and find a seat in the House of Commons, along with businessman Denis Thatcher's marriage proposal to her. Her struggles to fit in as a "Lady Member" of the House, and as Education Secretary in Edward Heath's cabinet are also shown, as are her friendship with Airey Neave, her decision to stand for Leader of the Conservative Party, and her voice coaching and image change.

Further flashbacks examine historical events during her time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom including the rising unemployment related to her monetarist policies and the tight 1981 budget (over the misgivings of "wet" members of her Cabinet – Ian Gilmour, Francis Pym, Michael Heseltine and Jim Prior), the Brixton Riots of 1981, the miners' strike of 1984–5, and the bombing of the Grand Hotel during the 1984 Conservative Party Conference, when she and Denis were almost killed. We also see her decision to retake the Falkland Islands following the islands' invasion by Argentina in 1982, the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano and Britain's subsequent victory in the Falklands War, her friendship with Ronald Reagan and emergence as a world figure, and the economic boom of the late 1980s.

By 1990 Thatcher is shown as an imperious but ageing figure, ranting aggressively at her Cabinet, refusing to accept that the Community Charge (the "Poll Tax") is regarded as unjust, and fiercely opposed to European Integration. Her deputy Geoffrey Howe resigns after being humiliated by her in a Cabinet meeting, Michael Heseltine challenges her for the party leadership and her loss of support from her Cabinet colleagues leaves her little choice but to resign as Prime Minister, about which she is shown as still angry and bitter twenty years later.

Eventually, Margaret is shown packing up her late husband's belongings, and telling him it's time for him to go. Denis's ghost leaves her – in spite of her cries that she is not yet ready to lose him – fully dressed but without his shoes, and she is left alone washing up a teacup.

Task 1. Choose the episode you like the best and describe it (actors’ performing, music, scene, historical accuracy, etc.)

Task 2. Read and translate the following text. Pay attention to the words in bold. Create your own sentences with these words:

Interviewer:Why did you decide to stand for Parliament?

Politician:Well, I’d been a social worker for a number of years and that had opened my eyes to the huge social divisions in this country. I firmly believed that these were wrong. I wanted to help bring in laws that would lessen the divisions between the rich and the poor. I wanted to do away with taxes for the poorest members of society and to clamp down on rich people who were attempting to avoid paying tax. In short, I wanted to do everything I could to stand up for the principles that I believed in.

Interviewer:So, once you were elected, how did you go ahead with your plans for social change?

Politician:Well, although some other Members of Parliament from my party backed me up, the more influential ones told me not to be too hasty. I learnt then that our party had entered into an agreement with the country’s top business leaders and had promised not to increase taxes for the wealthy for the time being.

Interviewer:Did you stand up to those influential MPs?

Politician:Yes, I told them I was not in parliament to carry out the wishes of big business.

Interviewer:Did other MPs in your party still stand by you at this point?

Politician:Not all of them, but a few very good people did stick by me and we eventually decided to break away and form our own new party.

Interviewer:So, what happened next?

Politician:Unfortunately, none of us were re-elected at the next election but we have been continuing with our campaigns and we hope that at some point in the not too distant future we may be able to carry out our plans to make society a better and fairer place.