Suu Kyi biopic big hit in pirated copies

Friday, 03 February 2012 17:47 Mizzima News

(Mizzima) – They’re scratchy and poor pirated copies, but DVDs of “The Lady” are the rage in Rangoon now, perhaps because Aung San Suu Kyi has emerged in a more public way in the past several months.

Whole stalls are devoted to selling copies of the movies, and so far the authorities have done nothing to prevent vendors from selling cheap versions of the movie, according to an article in The Guardian newspaper published on Thursday.

A dramatic narrative of Suu Kyi’s life, “The Lady,” a film by director Luc Besson, isn’t likely to be released in Burma, but it’s scheduled for release in the U.S. next month.

Whether “The Lady” will ever be released in Burma may be the next great test of a democracy yet to come, said The Guardian.
Actress Michelle Yeoh said playing  Suu Kyi was the role of a lifetime. The Malaysian-born star said she remembers her pride when Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

“She was fighting for democracy in a nonviolent way, where passion was the armor and love for liberty was the weapon,” Yeoh told The Associated Press as she promoted the movie in Thailand this week.

Yeoh is internationally known for her roles in the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

Yeoh met Suu Kyi in Rangoon in December 2010 when the film was in production, but the government deported her in June 2011, when she again visited the country.

She told the AP, “She's one of those people that you meet and you'll never forget.” She said she was awe struck, but  Suu Kyi quickly put her at ease.

Suu Kyi told reporters in Rangoon in January that she has not watched the film. “I don't really like seeing films which are supposed to be about me,” she said.