Suffragette (2015)

In 1912 London, a young working mother is galvanized into radical political activism supporting the right for women to vote, and is willing to meet violence with violence to achieve this end.

Director:

Sarah Gavron

Writer:

Abi Morgan

Stars:

Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter

17 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anne-Marie Duff	...	Violet Miller
Grace Stottor	...	Maggie Miller
Geoff Bell	...	Norman Taylor
Carey Mulligan	...	Maud Watts
Amanda Lawrence	...	Miss Withers
Shelley Longworth	...	Miss Samson
Adam Michael Dodd	...	George Watts
Ben Whishaw	...	Sonny Watts
Sarah Finigan	...	Mrs Garston
Drew Edwards	...	Male Laundry Worker
Lorraine Stanley	...	Mrs Coleman
Romola Garai	...	Alice Haughton
Adam Nagaitis	...	Mr Cummins
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Edith Ellyn
Finbar Lynch	...	Hugh Ellyn

Storyline

A drama that tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State. These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalized and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality - their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. Maud was one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is as gripping and visceral as any thriller, it is also heart-breaking and inspirational.

---

Plot Keywords:

f rated | anarchy | terrorism | suffragette | women's equality | 

---

Taglines:

Do something. Change something.

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense violence, thematic elements, brief strong language and partial nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2015 (UK)

Also Known As:

Las Sufragistas

Filming Locations:

Chatham Docks, Chatham, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$76,244, 23 October 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,693,356, 10 January 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ruby Films, Pathé, Film4

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Just prior to the end credits is a list of countries in the order they gave women the vote, however the Isle of Man was omitted from the list. In 1881 the Isle of Man (a British crown dependency, with its own government) gave women who owned property the right to vote. Emmeline Pankhurst's mother, Sophia Goulden, was born on the Isle of Man and both Sophia, and Emmeline's father Robert, are buried there.

---

Goofs

When the suffragettes are within the Central Lobby of the Houses of Parliament, several railings can be viewed on the windows in the background. These were not added to the windows until 1917, 5 years after the film is set, in tribute to the suffragettes who chained themselves to them in 1908. The railings used to be situated in the Ladies Gallery of the Commons but were removed so as to prevent similar political protests at the time.

---

Quotes

Inspector Arthur Steed: Look at me.
Maud Watts: He deserved it. If I told you...
Inspector Arthur Steed: And do you think anyone listens to a girl like you? That anyone cares? They don't. You're nothing in the world. I grew up with girls like you, Maud. People who sacrifice life for revenge and a cause. I know you. And so do they. They know how to draw on girls like you. Girls without money or prospects who want things to be better. They primp and the preen and they fluff you and they tell you - you are the foot soldiers of the cause. But, you're only ...

---

Connections

Featured in Suffragette: Looking Back, Looking Forward (2016)

---

Soundtracks

March of the Women
By Ethel Smyth and Cicely Hamilton
Publisher: Chester Music Ltd trading as J Curwen and Sons

User Reviews

The high price of Votes For Women

Scripted by Abi Morgan, who gave us THE IRON LADY four years ago, this is a finely judged snapshot of a key year (1912-13) in the decades-long battle for women to get the vote in England. Meryl Streep has brief but commanding appearances as cranky old Mrs Pankhurst, imperiously redirecting her campaign from the ruling class to the working class. The key character here is the fictitious Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), a young laundrywoman and mother who is drawn into the new campaign of 'civil disobedience', which will soon include blowing up post boxes and cutting telegraph wires.

Of the male characters, only Helena Bonham Carter's husband (Finbar Lynch) is sympathetic to the Cause. Brendan Gleeson's police inspector is well-served by the writer: central to the brutally repressive treatment of the Suffragettes, he is allowed a moment of doubt towards the end. Ben Whishaw seems uncomfortable in the challenging role of Maud's husband, totally intolerant her involvement with the Movement.

This is, in the fullest possible sense, a Women's Picture, written and directed (Sarah Gavron) by women, and it is the women who make it work and make it pull at your heartstrings. Bonham-Carter, Anne-Marie Duff and Romola Garai give telling performances. Carey Mulligan, who somehow didn't seem to get the period right in the remake of FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, is at her absolute best here, utterly convincing as an oppressed working mother reluctantly drawn into the campaign to give women fairer pay and a voice in the governance of the realm.

The Dickensian factory-sized laundry (a museum piece or a reconstruction?) is magnificently awful, and the teeming crowd scenes outside Parliament and at the fateful Epsom Derby suggest the production must have had a good budget (or some crafty CGI). There are moments of humour in the grim struggle, but this movie brings to life vividly and touchingly the high price paid by some women to obtain the right to vote for all women.