Premiere: The Iron Lady

As I’ve mentioned before in several posts, film blogging can mean a lot of hard work for very little reward. Sure, I – and I’m assuming this goes for many others – do it principally to showcase a love of film, perhaps even influencing others along the way. That said, it’s always nice to be recognised for what you do, whether it’s through positive comments on your posts, the opportunity to receive advanced copies of films or even to attend film-related events, such as screenings, festivals and, urm, premieres.

Never one to bask in my own creative success, it came as a huge shock to me when I opened my inbox up a few weeks ago to find an email from Film4 thanking me for my continued support of what they do and the dedicated work I do as a film blogger. That was nice, I thought. Then I realised there was another unread message saying they’d be sending me two tickets to the U.K. premiere of The Iron Lady in London on Wednesday, January 4. To say I was speechless would be a considerable understatement, but I was also extremely excited and in awe of their generosity.

So, on the morning of Wednesday, January 4, I made the four and a half hour journey from Edinburgh to London with my boyfriend… in first class. (Yes! Me!) Realising we would only have a short amount of time to spend in the capital itself, we took full advantage of the complimentary food and drink on offer and set off to enjoy the few hours we had before we were expected at the cinema

The premiere itself arrived and passed in a haze of flashing lights, A-list actors (Meryl Streep, Olivia Colman and Jim Broadbent were all in attendance), and tempestuous PR agents. After being ushered to our seats for spending too long marvelling at the blue carpet, we only had a brief moment of calmness to relax and soak up the ambience before the cast and crew introduced themselves to a very loud round of applause. The film promptly started. It all moved so fast, so it was nice to sit down in Nando’s afterwards and have the space to take several deep breaths and make sense of exactly what had just happened. It was – and this will come as no surprise to those who have been enveloped in the same level of hysteria – exactly what I had dreamed of, and will forever be implanted in my still frazzled mind.

The next day felt a little more relaxed. We were up and out of the hotel by 9am and sat in the Curzon, Soho by midday, having walked from one end of London the other, and back again. Then, before we knew it, we were on the train back to Edinburgh, and our little adventure was slowly, stop by stop, coming to a bittersweet end.

Not only was the trip an experience I’ll not forget in a hurry, but it was also the perfect way to mark the culmination of a year and a half of hard work. It made me realise that this is exactly what I want from life, and I’ll do anything in my power to make it happen.

Thank you Film4 and anyone who has supported me in my efforts. Your kind words certainly don’t go amiss.

If you haven’t already done so, please click here to read my review of the film in question.