Suffragette
Go! A valuable film of an under-represented history.
Women unite! It's voting time.
For whatever reason, civil rights films are having a fertile moment. The Butler, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Selma and 12 Years a Slave have all recently been moving and informative box office hits about race. Stonewall, although boycotted and critically panned (awkward), attempted to add a gay rights film to the collection. It is notable that virtually all of these films focus on movements led by American men. Suffragette has the important role of adding an under-recorded story to this group - the rights of women and their early 20th Century fight to win equal voting rights in the UK.
These days, perhaps the best known real-life Suffragettes are Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryll Streep, August: Osage County) as the figurehead of the movement; and Emily Davison (Natalie Press, My Summer of Love), who was tragically and famously killed after being struck by a horse during her protest at the Epsom Derby in 1913. While both feature in Suffragette (although Streep plays little more than a cameo), writer Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady) and Director Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) have chosen to focus on a fictional character - Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan, Inside Llewyn Davis, Shame). We look on as she is drawn into the Suffragette movement, to the detriment of her family life and - through repeated incarcerations - her liberty. The villain of the piece is played by Brendan Gleeson (Cavalry, In Bruges), a fictional police detective, charged with undermining the Suffragettes.
These days, perhaps the best known real-life Suffragettes are Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryll Streep, August: Osage County) as the figurehead of the movement; and Emily Davison (Natalie Press, My Summer of Love), who was tragically and famously killed after being struck by a horse during her protest at the Epsom Derby in 1913. While both feature in Suffragette (although Streep plays little more than a cameo), writer Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady) and Director Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) have chosen to focus on a fictional character - Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan, Inside Llewyn Davis, Shame). We look on as she is drawn into the Suffragette movement, to the detriment of her family life and - through repeated incarcerations - her liberty. The villain of the piece is played by Brendan Gleeson (Cavalry, In Bruges), a fictional police detective, charged with undermining the Suffragettes.
The decision to show the Suffragette story through the eyes of Maud is a largely successful one. Her painful collage of trials (ostensibly a mosaic of stories from real-life women at the time) delivers a concentrated impact given the modest running time of the film (106 minutes). Mulligan herself is hugely compelling and must surely be looking at an Oscar nomination come 2016. She is used to playing challenging roles, and continues in that vein with her trademark brand of ferocity and vulnerability. Playing out hunger strikes in prison, as many militant women did at the time, her whole physique shrinks as the film progresses. Most harrowing is watching her endure force-feeding. It is a difficult scene to act, but Mulligan's authentic performance would challenge anyone not to feel the shock and horror that such treatment deserves. Overall, she and the other cast members (including a memorable performance by Helena Bonham-Carter (Les Misérables) draw out the bleakness and embarrassing failures of the male-led society of the time
There are certainly aspects of the film that could be criticised, but it is sufficiently arresting that to do so would miss the point. Suffragette is a very good film that was written, directed and performed by women; all about a search for equality between the sexes. The true irony is that in the film-making industry in which it exists, the equality sought in the film is still horrendously lacking. Seeing so many women on screen in powerful and meaningful roles is an incredible rarity. Given that situation, the easiest thing to be disappointed about is not the film, but the likely lack of wide audience. Suffragette has so far only grossed $8.9 million after two weeks of release (compared to Spectre's $15 million+ after 3 days). Furthermore, sadly, while men could be most positively affected by the film, in the public screening I attended, I was one of just two gents amongst around 40 women. I suspect that this was not unusual, and it feels like a shame, given the opportunity the film offers to change perspectives.
This emphasises why well-made civil rights films such as Suffragette are important. They are not merely here for our entertainment or a record of history, but to remind us where our society has been and how much it still have to achieve.
So go. You'll learn something, feel something, be challenged, be grateful and potentially be empowered, regardless of your gender or background.
This emphasises why well-made civil rights films such as Suffragette are important. They are not merely here for our entertainment or a record of history, but to remind us where our society has been and how much it still have to achieve.
So go. You'll learn something, feel something, be challenged, be grateful and potentially be empowered, regardless of your gender or background.
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