Movie Review- Suffragette

Today we're gonna discuss the movie "Suffragette", a 2015 British historical drama film about women's suffrage in the United Kindom, directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The story is centered around Maud Watts, a 24-year-old laundry worker who slowly gets swooped into joining the suffragettes. It addresses the lives of working-class women militants and the events known by anyone familiar with history: hunger strikes, bombs dropped into mailboxes, and the blowing up of Lloyd George's summer home.

When Maud joins the movement she begins to take part in law-defying acts that have already been mentioned. Throughout the film, these acts escalate as well as the fury and frustration the women felt. Not being listened, made them act increasingly more violent as they felt nothing was changing and were left with no choice. As Maud said, "war is the only language man listen to". This brings up the question "Is violence ever justifiable?", an ageless issue that this movie does a great job addressing. The women are often referred to as anarchists, and when being questioned by the police, the detective brings up an important point " Violence doesn't discern! It takes the innocent and the guilty!". Nevertheless, whether or not it is justified, it was the way we changed the world.

The more Maud fought for her rights, the less accepted she was by society in general. To simply join the movement Maud had to give up her family because of the social stigma, give up her son to foster care, participate in hunger strikes, and be subjected to prison time where she was force-fed and much more. In my opinion, this slightly less general view of the movement made the film worth the while. The focus given to the intimacy of the women's families adds a lot to the movie. Do they stick with their families and accept their unfair realities or do they sacrifice and risk everything only for a glance of hope?

A scene that is worth pointing out due, not only, to its emotional value but also due to the great acting is the interrogation scene. This one-minute dialogue filled with raw and unmatched emotion summarizes the biggest problems brought up by the movie. It is filled with quotable lines, some were already mentioned but the most important one to me is “The law means nothing to me, I had no say in making it”. Ultimately, this movie is a cry of rage, a testimony to the suffrage and frustration of women all over the world who were forced to settle for less than decent lives because that was what the law allowed. Fighting for a better world is a never-ending fight, one that can be stopped if we keep marginalizing unprivileged groups.

I consider this movie to be a must-watch. It is a slow movie and it probably won’t keep you on the edge of your seat, and it could have made a better job depicting the complexity of the situation by not focusing so much on the life of a sole character. Nevertheless, it is filled with several gut-punching moments that give us some perspective since sometimes we seem to forget the fight that took place to gain such a simple thing as the right to vote. Furthermore, since it is based on real facts it carries much more impact.

In conclusion, this movie even though it can be described as boring or disappointing, can be seen as an historically and culturally relevant work of art, that shines a light on many timeless issues. To end on a good note and an important lesson provided by the movie in question, never forget you should always "rather be a rebel than a salve.".