Directed by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and starring Carey Mulligan (Inside Llewyn Davis, The Great Gatsby, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland), Anne-Marie Duff (The Magdalene Sisters, Nowhere Boy, Before I Go To Sleep), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard, Into the Storm, In Bruges, Song of the Sea, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady, Kramer vs. Kramer, Out of Africa, The Devil Wears Prada, The Bridges of Madison County).
Historical drama; 106 mins: 12+
Superbly directed by Sarah Gavron, Suffragette tells the story of the movement in Britain to allow women to vote, which eventually came about fully in 1928. The storyline follows a group of women at a laundrette who followed the mission of Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep). By the time this group of women became involved, the movement had made little headway by adopting peaceful protests. Their activities became increasingly militant and started to become more visible that the police, under the leadership of Inspector Arthur Steed (Brendan Gleeson) resorted to more and more aggressive responses.
During this time, 24 year-old Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) started to become involved in the movement, against the wishes of her husband. Under the local leadership of Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter) and the enthusiasm of Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff) and other working women, her participation escalated resulting in her being arrested and imprisoned, going on hunger strike and losing both her husband and child.
Parts of the film are indeed harrowing, particularly inside the prison, with the post-production graining adding to the visual image of harsh working and prison conditions at the time (the film covered the period up to 1913). The journey of Maud and her fellow suffragettes is powerfully told and illustrates how they were willing to put their lives on the line to be treated equally (to men).
