Suffragette

Unsurprisingly, Suffragette is a drama concerning the Suffragette movement in Britain in the early 1920s and their struggle to secure votes for women. At the end of the film, the year that women were granted the vote in a number of different nations scrolls down the screen. It demonstrates that suffrage for women around the world remains a depressingly prevalent issue.

We see the movement through the eyes of Maude Watts, a composite character played by Carey Mulligan. She's a 24 year old laundrette worker who initially finds herself dragged into the world of the Suffragettes by giving evidence to the House of Commons as a last minute replacement. As the film progresses she feels compelled to involve herself in direct action, eventually sacrificing her job and family to do so. Her transition and general hardening of demenour feel believable and that's largely due to the skill with which Mulligan inhabits the role.

The film does an effective job of portraying the bleak landscape for the female population at that time, even if some of the male characters are very broadly drawn. I like Ben Whishaw very much but here he turns in an unrelateable performance as Maude's wife Sonny, seemingly incapable of any sort of independent thought. Meanwhile, the brutish owner of the laundrette in Bethnal Green seems to owe a debt to Fantine's employer in Les Miserables. Brendon Gleeson puts in a decent performance as the police chief with whom Maude frequently has run ins though.

My gripes with the film are fairly minor and it's obviously good to see a film written and produced by women with a predominantly female cast. It's a solid if flawed portrayal of an important part of our history.