Directed by Luc Besson (France/U.K.)
When Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to nurse her dying mother and found herself cast as the saviour of her homeland’s democracy movement, she left behind two teenage sons and her husband, Oxford professor Michael Aris, in England. Over the next decade, much of which she spent under house arrest, they were only permitted a handful of visits; if she ever returned to them, she would have abandoned Burma for good. This remarkable personal sacrifice is the theme of Luc Besson’s biopic, but its only drama is provided by Burma’s sadistic military junta: If Suu Kyi or the unfailingly supportive Aris ever know a doubt, we don’t see it here. A simplistic script is marred by leaden dialogue and odd choices about when to use English or Burmese; performances by Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis are as two-dimensional as the writing.
Sept. 12, 9:30 p.m., Roy Thomson; Sept. 13, 11 a.m., Elgin; Sept. 17, 6 p.m., Scotiabank 2
