A Truthful, Compelling Depiction of The Suffragettes - Suffragette (2015) review

As it has recently been international Women's Day and Mother's Day I felt it appropriate to upload my review of the critically acclaimed film 'Suffragette'. this powerful story of how women fought the right to vote is one of the best films I have seen in years. Its a shame to think it didn't catch the eye of the awards ceremonies but all the same it is an incredibly important film one that everyone should see.


Suffragette truthful portrays a working class women’s life in Britain in the 1900’s and it’s a rum one at that. Women toiled working in the factories of Britain, in the giant machine that was the industrial revolution. Whilst also expected to be a housewife and mother, and your husband got paid more than you for doing the same job. It is hard to believe the sexism that existed a century ago.

In ‘Suffragette’ The women’s jobs are in a laundry in Bethnal green, the owner is a leery bastard with a sexual appetite for young girls, it is quickly inferred that the central character Maude Watts (Carey Mulligan) has been sexually abused by him from a young girl, hence why she gets ‘special treatment’ as an adult.  It is the women that get the hard labour jobs of washing, ironing etc that cause them to have sores, scolds, lung irritation and headaches, while the men run deliveries in the fresh air. From the start of the film the injustices are laid plain to see. It is made pretty clear why things needed to change.

‘Suffragette’ tells the story of the women that fought for our equal rights and the right to vote that women have today.  The film tells the fight from the perspective of working class women; this makes it much more relatable than if it were a story focusing on the wealthy, high society women who lead the movement. It communicates that this was a fight for all regardless of class and needed unification in order to succeed.

The film guides the audience through the narrative with the character of Maud, a fictional character she is the outsider, the converted suffragette, the figure the audience can relate to. A cinematic tool that is used in numerous films but is used to great effect in Suffragette; many will be able to relate to Mulligans heart wrenching performance when she discovers her youngest child has been put up for adoption. The scene is one of desperation and hopelessness as Maud sobs at the loss of her son and the injustice of her life.

As her ideas about her value and role in society are questioned and she is ostracised for her beliefs from the community she has always known. She comes to embrace a new family and way of thinking.  The turning point comes when she meets Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) and Pankhurst imparts the inspiring quote ‘Never give up, never give up the fight’.

Suffragette portrays its history with brutal reality; it is at times visceral and hard to watch. The scene outside parliament where the chancellor announces there will not be a change in the suffrage bill was particularly affecting. Tension is created with the arrival of riot police and the peaceful protest soon derails into chaos. This is conveyed purposefully through the cinematography, the action is at times blurry and in-cohesive, it gives the audience a very real feeling of being at the center of the chaos. This scene stirred thoughts of the Sharpeville massacre during apartheid in the 1960’s. Innocent peacefully protesting women were beaten by police much like the Africans were shot at by the police. To paraphrase Nelson Mandela if peace is met with only violence, then the protesters must use violence otherwise it is an unfair fight. To apply this to the suffragette movement the women used violence because peaceful protest fell on deaf ears. Much like the apartheid protesters of the 1960’s the suffragettes used sabotage to wound the enemy, no lives were ever intended to be harmed. It is clear to me there were similarities between the two movements.

A similar feeling of confusion is created the first time Maud is incarcerated in prison, she does not understand what is going on and is scared. She has not joined the fight yet and this comes as a shock. The scene is again a relatable one as many would find themselves feeling the same.

The most brutal scene of the whole film is where Maud, in prisoned again and this time a committed member of the cause: (she has already been shunned by her community, lost her job and her son so really has nothing to lose; this appears to be a system of challenges that every freedom fighter must go through,) goes on hunger strike and is after five days force fed. The scene is barbaric and brutal you want to look away from the screen, a similar feeling is stirred throughout of much of Steve McQueen’s ‘12 Years a Slave’. However I did not look away as I feel it is important that we relay and remind ourselves of our history however stained it may be and I feel it is credence to ‘Suffragette’ for showing the plight for women’s rights unreservedly. You admire the suffragettes so much more for what they achieved and the courage they had to stick to their beliefs because of the hardships they faced.

The film is told truthfully and with historical accuracy, there is no glamorizing, the women all appear natural with no makeup, which is in part its beauty. The women are relatable; representative of all of society, from the women in the laundry to the educated doctor or the politician’s wife, a different type of trapped life is shown through the latter, Alice Haughton the wife of a politician. She is paid bail by her husband and petitions him to pay for the other women. He refuses, reminding her she should know her place. Illustrating that women of all rank were discriminated against one way or another.

I found the portrayal of the men in the film fascinating: Maud’s husband Sonny (played by Ben Whishaw) was a man of the times he lived in, integrally kind and loving but still prejudiced and stubborn. Hugh Ellyn (Finbar Lynch) the husband of Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter), a militant suffragette; was a man ahead of his time, a believer in gender equality. There were also the police inspectors and government official’s hell bent on keeping women in their place. Much like the women of the film the men were portrayed representative of the time with conviction and believability.

One of the most poignant scenes in the film is when Sonny tells Maud that the law will side with him, that his children are his property if they divorced. I found this remarkable and ironic, considering in the 21^st century fathers now campaign for the right to more access to their children and complain the law sides with the mother too much. Perhaps that is why: men had it their way for so long, now women should have it theirs. But that wouldn’t be the argument of the suffragettes, as Maud states ‘I am worth no more no less than you’.

The second scene I found particularly affecting is where Maud goes back to the laundry and takes Maggie, a friend’s oldest daughter who is being abused by the owner just like Maud was and petitions Alice Haughton, an upper class suffragette to employ her as a servant. To me this is Maud saying that she recognises that the world won’t change straight away but this is her small part that she can change.

The film ends with the death of Emily Davidson and her funeral. It is at this point the suffragette movement receives worldwide coverage, a turning point in its effectiveness. Several captions role after the film ends, explaining how the vote for all women was achieved in 1928 in the UK and then goes on to list when the vote for all women was achieved in other countries and continents. This I found truly fascinating; New Zealand secured the vote in 1893 some thirty years earlier than the UK. Australia granted the right to vote in in 1902 while other European countries were much later, with Italy not granting its females the right until the 1950’s and Switzerland in the 1970’s. The film also provoked the audience to consider the ongoing fight for women’s rights in the Middle East in countries such as Saudi Arabia which to this day has not granted women the right to vote. I was watching an interview with Malala Yousafzai the other day and she spoke of her aim to achieve education for all girls. This shows that we still haven’t reached equality in many parts of the world, that there is still a cause to fight for in order to achieve fairness in every society.

It seems mad a film like ‘Suffragette’ hasn’t been made before but despite the wait the final product is excellent relaying this inspirational piece of our history in such an accurate, inspiring and dynamic way. Everyone should see this film, it is brilliant a master piece of British filmmaking, with a phenomenal cast and tells a story that very women should share and remember.