Luc Besson has fallen below the directorial radar a little in the last few years. However, a new project named IN TO THE LIGHT could revive his glory days of THE FITH ELEMENT. IN TO THE LIGHT will be a much needed biopic on the life of Aung San Suu Kyi.
It has been confirmed that Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) is to play Aung San Suu Kyi. Yeoh has supposedly spent time with Aung San in Rangoon in preparation for the role. To mimic the landscape of Burma, filming for IN TO THE LIGHT will take place throughout different locations in Thailand.
For those who don’t favour the old broadsheets, Aung San is Burma’s pro democracy leader and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The female political activist has been in and out of house arrest for the best part of 20 years for her charismatic promotion of democracy, a restriction which was formally imposed in 2003.
Aung San has not left her home in 7 years as a result of her vehement opposition to the Burmese government. She was granted leadership of the opposition party the National League for Democracy (NDL) following elections in 1990 but was never permitted to assume power. The announcement of the biopic could not be any more timely, Aung San Suu Kyi was released from her house arrest just last month, on the 13th of November.
A production with such imperative political relevance has been a long time coming. Aung San’s ongoing detention was a niggling reminder of human rights suppression in Burma. Her release is a cause for celebration but could allow many to forget this. Her story is one that needs to be told and I have confidence in Besson to do it justice.
Even if it doesn’t manage to provoke universal thought, it has the makings of a cracking movie.
