Suffragette is a new historical drama that makes Hollywood history itself as it is movie about women, made by woman and starring women. Well technically this movie not is actually Hollywood as it is British with one notable exception, and was even financed by British and French money too. But in light of all the recent discussions about the lack of real visibility of women filmmakers, this is a very welcome addition to our movie screens.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the literal meaning of suffrage is the right to vote in political elections, but it’s very clear from this new movie that is based on part of the struggle of the British Suffragettes at the beginning of the 20th Century, it went far beyond just voting and was about the inequality of women in general and how they had such few legal rights, even over their own children.
Most of the suffragettes were women from upper and middle-class backgrounds, but this is the fictionalized story of one uneducated young working class wife and mother called Maud Watts who got unexpectedly swept up into fighting for a cause that she hadn’t even given a moments thought about, until one evening in London’s West End when she witnessed some militant women causing a fracas.
One of them turned out to Violet who had just started working in the same laundry as Maud in the East End. Maud’s curiosity in Violet’s activities grows slowly, but before very long she finds herself drawn into being a part of them, much to the annoyance of her mild-mannered husband and a tyrant of an employer. Her presence at some of the Suffragette meetings attracts the attention of the Police, who are under pressure from the Government to put an end to their activities, and so they lean on her to become an informer. However, the more pressure that is placed on Maud to revert back to being a silent obedient wife, re-enforces her newly found conviction that she should keep being involved, even it means being imprisoned.
The movie starts off slowly and may not be the easiest to follow at first because of some very strong cockney accents, but it really takes off when the women are peacefully protesting outside Parliament and are then on the receiving end of some rather vicious police brutality. The Police completely get away with this and even step up their violent treatment of the women, as in this very patriarchal society where most of the newspapers are owned by members of the English Aristocracy, it is very easy for the government to ensure that there is no media coverage of the Suffragettes at all.
The personal price that the women pay is very high indeed, particularly for young Maud who loses everything, although even that is not quite as bad as another of the Suffragettes who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring their case to the attention of the King and the country at large.
Directed by a relatively unknown Sarah Gavron (this is her second feature film) and written by Emmy Award Winner Abi Morgan who also did the screenplays for “Shame” and “The Iron Lady”, it has the benefits of a really excellent cast. Oscar Nominee Carey Mulligan shines as she always does, as Maud as she turns from being meek and subservient to being quite fiercely determined in front of our very eyes ; Double Oscar Nominee Helena Bonham Carter gives one of the most beautifully restrained performances of her career as Edith the chemist turned militant terrorist (based on an actual Suffragette); Anne-Marie Duff, who we still remember fondly as John Lennon’s mother in “Nowhere Boy”, was excellent as the mouthy brave Violet, and the only mis-fire was the very very brief appearance of the movie’s only non-Brit Meryl Streep, who looked as uncomfortable playing the legendaryMrs Pankhurstas we did watching her.
The men in the pictures naturally played secondary roles, but did them superbly, particularly Ben Whishaw as Maud’s mild mannered husband who couldn’t cope with being a single parent, and Brendan Gleason as the aggressive Police Detective who started to regret the heavy hand the Government expected him to play. Plus credit too for Alice Normington the production designer who along with the cinematographer Eduard Graumade full use of shooting some of the movie in the glorious parts of London that are still relatively untouched since those days.
One of the most moving parts of this thought provoking drama comes at the end as the final credits roll. It took another 5 years and the end of WW1 for the British Government to eventually pass a Law giving women in Britain over the age of 30, meeting certain property qualifications, the right to Vote. And another 10 years after that until they lowered the age limit to 21 years old. However it wasn’t until 1925 that mothers were finally given any legal rights over their own children which up until then had been the sole jurisdiction of fathers. A very sobering thought.
Suffragette is a new historical drama that makes Hollywood history itself as it is movie about women, made by woman and starring women. Well technically this movie not is actually Hollywood as it is British with one notable exception, and was even financed by British and French money too. But in light of all the recent discussions about the lack of real visibility of women filmmakers, this is a very welcome addition to our movie screens.
The movie starts off slowly and may not be the easiest to follow at first because of some very strong cockney accents, but it really takes off when the women are peacefully protesting outside Parliament and are then on the receiving end of some rather vicious police brutality. The Police completely get away with this and even step up their violent treatment of the women, as in this very patriarchal society where most of the newspapers are owned by members of the English Aristocracy, it is very easy for the government to ensure that there is no media coverage of the Suffragettes at all.
