'Suffragette' (12A)

 

 

****

 

In 1912, Emmeline Pankhurst issued an appeal to her followers, the Suffragettes, asking them to increase in their militancy in order to sustain the vote for women.

 

In 1912, women in Britain did not have the vote. Upon marriage they were considered the property of their husbands, and any child they might have would immediately be viewed at the father's charge as opposed to the mother's. Rape, physical abuse and discrimination in the work place were not considered crimes, and education was confined to only the richest. Carey Mulligan's Maud Watts is a work of fiction, and yet it is easy to imagine hundreds of working class women, in the same desperate drudgery, risking their livelihoods so that they could obtain the vote, a symbol of some kind of agency in their lives. It is an emotive tale, told here by a female crew, with director Sarah Gavron bringing Abi Morgan's poignant script to life.

 

Mulligan's Maud is a mother, wife, and a full-time washer at the laundry in which she was born, and it is through her eyes that we are introduced to the idea of female suffrage and their growing militancy. Mulligan is excellent in the role, a young woman worn down by years of work and abuse, and finally feeling hopeful for the future. Maud's husband, Sonny (Ben Whishaw) tries to be understanding, but is an ultimately tragic figure in his unacceptance of her change of heart, whilst her fellow working-class Suffragette, Violet (Anne-Marie Duff), is the more out-spoken rebel, initially egging Maud on. Brendan Gleeson plays the detective brought to London to deal with the outbreak of violence, a man trapped between upholding the rules he has sworn to protect, and the pleas of women he sees as suffering injustice. It is a potentially difficult role, but Gleeson manages it with aplomb.

 

Whilst the storytelling element is rather formulaic, the film is raised above being average through the sheer amount of love and passion that has clearly gone into making it. Mulligan is magnetic and brilliant throughout, along with the rest of the cast. Abi Morgan's script is similarly excellent, engaging us from the first and captivating us throughout, even though this is a story we have likely all studied in our history books. Beautifully shot and supported by a stirring soundtrack, this feels like an important film, in that it is a film about women, by women, that also happens to be of the highest quality. There is a truth and emotion in the filmmaking on display here that a male director could not have captured.

 

Difficult to watch in some places, and concluding with an incredibly emotional timeline of women being granted the vote worldwide, Suffragette may not be the visual epic that Macbeth is, or the creative and experimental piece of film making seen elsewhere, but it is a necessary and important film that I would urge you to go and see. And if you're a woman, who has the chance to vote but doesn't, then shame on you.