The story of Maud Watts and how she becomes a foot solider for the Suffragette’s fighting for women’s right to vote. In the process though is it going to cost her everything she had?
I have been looking forward to this film since I saw it being announced, especially with the cast. Thanks to the lovely people over at Show Film First I got tickets to a preview screening last night. So pretty cool to watch the red carpet before the film started at 8pm and knowing you were watching it at the same time as the premiere.
Anyway so the film wasn’t entirely what I was expecting as I thought we were going to have more Meryl as Pankhurst. Although at least I was more prepared for this as it was mentioned in the interviews prior to the film starting. But after seeing the film I can understand why she was just used very briefly, but obviously scene stealing and inspiring.
I think this is a very important film still as it really did raise awareness of the awful treatment the women went through in the fight for our rights. How can you not feel inspired with it, they made a difference when men totally dominated everything. Which I think makes some of it very difficult to comprehend, violence was second nature and was used to keep wives in check if it looked like the husband could not control them.
Pretty shocking to think that some of it was just over 100 years ago and less, it was the time my grandparents were then going to be born into in the late 1920’s/1930’s. So it still feels close knowing people who had been alive at that time. It was incredible to see how much women were expected to do and for a considerable amount less money (although is that even equal in this day and age, apparently not in some places) as well as raising the children.
I will admit that I had never really thought about how brutal the police were towards the protests and the truly awful treatment they received in prison. It was pretty difficult to watch at times, but as I said earlier it is important to remember that these things did indeed happen. I won’t go into massive detail, but they don’t shy away from the more difficult issues.
Carey Mulligan was incredible in the leading role and really had the balance of seeing shy and reserved but then proving to me a lot tougher than anyone had given her credit for. If you are a regular follower of my blog I am sure you will already know that I am a massive fan of Mulligan’s and not only managed to catch her perform live in a play but meet her at the stage door afterwards as well.
Helen Bonham Carter put in her usual high standard performance and Meryl Streep in her pretty much cameo role was a scene stealer. I thought a stand out performance really came from Anne-Marie Duff, she really impressed me as Violet Miller. A tough woman who really wanted to make a difference.
I really do recommend this film as it has some brilliant performances from a very strong female cast. It will tug at your heart-strings in many different ways as you struggle to accept that this is all rather recent British history. It was certainly not all singing and dancing like Mrs Banks would have us believe in Mary Poppins with the song Sister Suffragette. I am sure this is an early runner for possible awards nominations, especially when it comes to the BAFTA awards.
Let’s hope this one gets a decent run in the box office, opens in the UK on Monday!
