Suffragette

The history of the fight by women for the right to vote should be required viewing by middle and high school students who take for granted the freedoms they enjoy today. The fictional story of one woman's struggle with enlightenment is told by director Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The formula paced film shows how horrible life was for women no matter if you are rich or poor, educated or uneducated. Women were considered delicate creatures meant to be protected. Major decisions of the world should be left to their fathers, brothers, and husbands. Imagine that happening now despite some efforts by right wing religious groups that want to keep women barefoot and pregnant.

Carey Mulligan is luminous as Maud Watts, the unsuspecting industrial laundry worker who has spend her entire life doing back breaking work for a few shillings a week. It's 1917 when she witnesses some violent right to vote activists hurling rocks at store windows. One of the woman is Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff) who also works at the laundry. Maud hurries home to her husband Sonny (Ben Whishaw) and her son George (Adam Michael Dodd). Violet tries to encourage Maud to come to the meetings to hear Emmeline Parkhurst (Meryl Streep) the real life character who was the leader of the British suffragette movement. She founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) dedicated to “deeds, not words”. Helen Bonham Carter plays Edith Ellyn who runs the cell of suffragettes who operate in secret carrying out more physical confrontations like bombing mail boxes and cutting telegraph lines. Maud gets caught up in their missions after she testifies in Violets stead in front of the Parliament about what the vote would mean to her. She is heartfelt, but the men in power deny that a change needs to be made. On top of it all, she gets arrested and her husband now feels she has shamed him.

Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson) brings some new tech for that time of secret photography to target some of the women who are more radical. He tries to get Maud to turn on her sisters in exchange for getting her out of jail and safely back with her husband and child. But after her husband kicks her out of the house she realizes that if she doesn't agree with the laws that allow a husband to control her life and that of her child, then she should help change those laws. With nothing else to lose, she becomes a active member of the cause to bring the right to vote to the forefront. They decide to try and bring their message directly to the king.

The extreme violence by the police on the women protesters and their treatment in jail is a big 2x4 to the side of the head. Yes, we know, times were rough and most men depicted were dogs. Maud is even more encouraged to fight when she sees Violet's daughter being molested by her boss at the factory. She believes that there should be a better life. Steed and Maud have a meaningful conversation and you can see Steed may agree with her intellectually, but the stodgy cop stands firmly to the laws even if it's the wrong side of the history.

The ending credits lists when women were given the right to vote around the world. It's sad to note that the US didn't enact it until 1925. More recently Saudi Arabia allowed women's voting rights in 2013. The struggle for equality still goes on not just for women but for all people.
(Review by reesa)