Suu Kyi's struggle for her country came at a high personal cost. Her husband died in 1999 in Britain, and in the final stages of his battle with cancer the Myanmar junta denied him a visa to see his wife.

Suu Kyi refused to leave Myanmar to see him, certain she would never have been allowed to return.

While there is no scheduled release of the film in Myanmar, pirate copies of "The Lady" have flooded the streets of Yangon, which its French director Luc Besson described as an "excellent news".

"As an artist I'm always very happy even if it's through piracy that they can have access to culture, so obviously I'm really fine with that," he said.

But Besson said he hoped the recent signs of opening in Myanmar would see the film being officially released in the impoverished Asian nation.

"I'm even ready to give it for free... in Burma you know but the film is banned from Burma. They show a couple of signs of opening so I hope they will tolerate the film," he said.

"It's a wonderful film about Burmese people -- not so much the government but the people and I think any Burmese should be proud of the film," he added.

During the shoot, Yeoh met Suu Kyi at her Rangoon home in December 2010 weeks after the Nobel laureate was released from a seven-year house arrest.

The star was however deported and blacklisted when she tried to visit again in June last year.

Besson filmed the movie in Thailand near its border with Myanmar, as well as secretly in Myanmar itself, and used footage shot by pro-democracy activists.