Suffragette Review
By David Kempler
Suffering Suffragette
When I hear the word suffragette, I inevitably think of sitting in the student union at college and hearing the song "Suffragette City" for the first time. It made me an immediate fan of David Bowie. What does this have to do with Sarah Gavron's film, "Suffragette"? Nothing at all.
The film tells of the women's movement to secure the right to vote in early twentieth century Britain and it's not a pretty thing to watch. Maude Watts (Carey Mulligan) and her husband (Ben Whishaw) are employed in a laundry where, along with everyone else, they work for little money and under horrible conditions. However, it's the women who really take the brunt of the abuse. They get paid less for the same work as a matter of policy. They are also subject to constant groping and more from the foreman.
Maude gets drawn into the women's movement with the assistance of a few of her co-workers and a physician (Helena Bonham Carter) At first she wants no part of them or their movement, but her interactions with those involved, in combination with the way she is treated at work, lands her in the middle of it.
Her husband reacts in a very sympathetic and empathetic way. He throws her out of the house. This cements her dedication to the movement. The rest of "Suffragette" is an ever more violent cat and mouse game between the suffragettes and the alliance between the police force and the politicians.
Mulligan does her usual outstanding job in portraying the growth of her character and it is impossible not to feel for her. There a couple of particularly heartbreaking scenes where her will is severely tested. Everything else about "Suffragette" ranges from good to very good, but despite it being well worth seeing, I couldn't help but think that there was a Best Picture possibility here that never quite emerges. Nevertheless, "Suffragette" is well worth a yea vote.
