LADY OF NO FEAR Documentary of Aung San Suu Kyi - Htoo Tay Zar photo

Video Beat Part 2 - Aung San Suu Kyi Documentary LADY OF NO FEAR

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

As the lyrics of the 60's song by Sly & the Family Stone goes… 'Different strokes for different folks.' The lyric fits perfectly for those of us who are familiar with Suu Kyi's struggle and house arrest in her attempts to bring democracy to her country. This documentary fills in the gaps for those of us unfamiliar with her personal existence prior to her leaving her married life and return to her country where many people became aware of a part of her story - Recommended TV Listings

Tuesday November 08, 2011

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF SUU KYI

A 64 minute documentary on Aung San Suu Kyi LADY OF NO FEAR was screened at the Meta House in Phnom Penh Cambodia this Sunday past. This documentary aka bio-pic is a MUST SEE as it fills in the gaps of her well publicized efforts to bring democracy to her country Burma.

As the lyrics of the 60's song by Sly & the Family Stone goes… 'Different strokes for different folks.' The lyric fits perfectly for those of us who are familiar with Suu Kyi's struggle and house arrest in her attempts to bring democracy to her country. This documentary fills in the gaps for those of us unfamiliar with her personal existence prior to her leaving her married life and return to her country where many people became aware of a part of her story

The gaps filled are based on interviews and comments made about Suu (pronounced Sue) by friends and those who knew her during her college days in England. There are several clips of her with her husband Michael Aris as well as photos of her as a child and that of her father.

Her friends described how virtuous Suu was during her collegiate days as she preferred a pillow to having a lover as they did. Many of those interviewed were several years older than Suu Kyi. They explored the wild life style of the 70's that Suu Kyi refused to be involved in.

Suu Kyi was recognized as being extremely intelligent whose thoughts were to help the Burmese people and avoided applying for British citizenship while noting that she was from Burma and preferred her citizenship and love for her nation. When her mother became ill she returned to Burma and became involved in politics. Since her mother and father were both previously politicians it brought about negative attention from the Burmese government of her presence in the country. Her victory in the elections was ignored by the government and she was detained.

The documentary includes previous interviews of Suu and her husband Michael Aris when they were in the UK and she later in Burma. The film incorporated video clips of Aris' making speeches in her behalf when he picked up awards including the Nobel Peace Prize when she was under house arrest.

The film lightly touched on but did not focus on her political background that is well known such as her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament when she was already detained under house arrest before the elections took place. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her release on 13 November 2010.

The documentary did focus on her personal life with most of it prior to her return to Burma while leaving her two children and her husband behind. In a strange way it comes off as a strange love story of a choice of marriage to a man and her children and an unbinding marriage to her country. The country won out.

The doc did reveal the torment and frustration her husband had after he became ill with prostrate cancer. His last visit to see her was during the Christmas season of 1995. From that point The Burmese government refused to grant him a visa. He voiced his views on the Burmese government by stating that, "Guttersnipes. They have no nobility."

Her husband Aris died on his 53rd birthday on 27 March 1999. Since 1989, when his wife was first placed under house arrest, he had seen her only five times, to that last visit in 1995. The documentary gave credibility to how devoted he was to his wife's cause and was not bitter that she left him and her family behind. He understood and supported her efforts and decisions throughout.

This is a MUST SEE documentary. As in many cases with films such as this their availability for purchase is cloudy and not specific. The following are some links to view portions of the film but they do no do the work justice as it requires viewing the film in its entirety to get the full value of what it really is all about. It's a strange and moving love story.

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO:

OFFICIAL TRAILER ON YOU TUBE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhIhYSTuh2U

Aung San Suu Kyi Documentary LADY OF NO FEAR - link to preview at Daily Motion web site:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xht5a8_aung-san-suu-kyi-documentary_news

National Radio text is published in five languages, English, Thai, French, Russian and Khmer (Cambodian language). Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns is legally available ONLY on our National Radio site. Our sports, entertainment and feature programming has been broadcast on over 1000 radio stations.

TV SCHEDULE

Note: The shows listed are for the Cambodia/Thailand time zone. Check our chart or your local listings for time in your area.

NOTE TIMES OF THE SAME TELECAST IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

© Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com All rights reserved.