[rating=5.00]
It’s easy to forget, in our modern world, the painstaking fight for universal suffrage that beset not only our country, but countries around the world. History tends to gloss over the realities of the struggle, writing so that the world simply woke up one day, realized we were wrong, and made the appropriate changes. The reality is that the fight for women’s right to vote was long, hard fought, and often violent. Suffragette aims to bring that side of history to the light. However, while it’s quite often an engaging look at the terrible oppression suffered by women who wanted nothing more than for their voices to be heard, what we’ve been given instead is a movie that very much means well, and is completely earnest in its intentions, but ultimately never rises to the legacy of its subject matter.
Taking place in early 20th century England, the film follows one woman’s life as she becomes increasingly embroiled in the suffragist movement. The always amazing Carey Mulligan plays Maud Watts, a poor woman who works at a laundry with her husband Sonny (Ben Whishaw) and wants only the best for her family and child. That all changes in a moment when, one day, she quite literally just happens to find herself in the midst of a protest by the violent suffragettes, a movement being closely watched by the state. Curiosity piqued, she begins to secretly attend meetings and becomes increasingly radicalized, thanks in no small part to the harassment of the state, led by Inspector Arthur Steed (Brendan Gleeson). Her life and her normalcy become uprooted due to her growing involvement in the cause, and she finds herself embroiled in a violent struggle for rights and freedoms.
Suffragette might be an important film, but it’s not a particularly memorable one. It’s a film that never quite finds its narrative focus, and instead casts a wide net in an attempt to do as much as possible with its hour and forty minute run time. The result is very often muddled—things happen, which we understand are bad, but the purpose as it relates to the story at hand gets lost in the messaging. While the portrayals of people and events are very much true to life, and do paint a stark picture of the realities facing women at the time, the whole never quite adds up to the sum of its parts, which was disappointing, to say the least.
When it works, however, it really works. It’s difficult to watch Suffragette and not get angry at the injustices against Maud—a fictional character who serves as a symbol for all women of her time. She’s jailed, beaten, shamed, disgraced, belittled, and has her child taken from her due to unjust laws against the rights of women. Mulligan has more than a few standout scenes, and her performance is enhanced by the presence of Anne-Marie Duff as Violet Miller and Helena Bonham Carter as Edith Ellyn. The trio paint a stunning portrait of the struggle to gain the vote, and their efforts here are commendable.
But no performance in the world can quite overcome the problems with pacing and structure. The script, from Abi Morgan, who also penned and created the stunning British series, The Hour, feels rushed in places, with scenes moving from one to the next seemingly without logic. There’s a sense of truncation—which admittedly might have something to do with the editing process—that keeps the narrative from flowing gracefully. Watching Suffragette, I couldn’t help but think the story, as presented, would have been better served in a longer format, such as an 8 episode miniseries. There, the story could have blossomed without being rushed. Here, I couldn’t overcome the feeling that pieces were missing.
Still, in its own way, Suffragette isn’t without merit. While its attempts were not as poignant as its intents, it does manage to shed light on the oft brushed aside corner of the suffragist story. The problem is that it never quite manages to go far enough. It holds back when it ought to come out swinging, which never works in its favor. At best, it’s merely a starting point, one which will hopefully inspire a new generation to embark on some research of their own to learn about the sides of the struggle history likes to forget. I hope that’s the case.
Suffragette is now playing in theaters everywhere.
