There was a time when one of the nation’s biggest concerns was how to stem the tide of political activism to enable women to vote. Luckily, that time is long since over, but it didn’t really come without a price for many of the brave women that stood up for what they believed in. That sacrifice and hardship was retold in Suffragette (2015), a new film based upon the torrid series of events that led to the eventual provision of women’s right to vote in the UK.
Starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter and Meryl Street, it’s got a pretty big hitting cast to go alongside the massive historical storyline at the centre of the film. Bizarrely, Helena Bonham-Carter is the great-granddaughter of former British Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, who was against women’s suffrage and in power during the time of the movement, so she’ll get a chance to right the wrong a little.
Release date
Cinema: The film has been confirmed for a UK release date of Monday the 12th October 2015, with screenings at Vue, and it will go on to open at Cineworld cinemas on the 16th October 2015. It will then be followed by the US release on the 23rd October 2015, giving the Stateside audience a chance to see how badly the UK establishment treated its women a little over a century ago. Although, the US has more than its own share of voting skeletons, including women’s suffrage.
DVD, Blu-ray and digital download: Suffragette will be getting its DVD, Blu-ray and digital download release on the 29th February 2016 in the UK. It was released in the US on the 2nd February 2016 and you can see all of the details for the special features below.
Story
Though the plot of the film spans a good portion of the suffragette movement in general, it centres around a young laundry factory worker named Maud who becomes a part of the feminist movement to attain political voting rights for women. With a young family of her own, her actions don’t come without a cost, but she perseveres in the face of increasingly strong resistance from the authorities.
As peaceful protests appear to prove ineffective, and the government response becomes more intense and brutal, Maud and a number of the other suffragettes go underground and respond with violent acts of rebellion. Willing to risk everything to attain their right to vote, they face the full might of the establishment in one of the most significant movements in history.
Cast
Carey Mulligan (Far From The Madding Crowd (2015)) plays Maude alongside fellow firebrand suffragette Mrs Ellyn, played by Helena Bonham Carter. Ben Wishaw (S.P.E.C.T.R.E) plays Maude’s husband, Meryl Streep (Fantastic Mr Fox) stars as one of the biggest names in the movement, Emmeline Pankhurst and Brendan Gleeson (Edge Of Tomorrow) takes on the intimidating might of a prominent policeman tasked with stopping the militant suffragettes.
The cast also includes Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy) and Romola Garai (The Crimson Petal And The White).
Production
Suffragette has been directed by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and written by Abi Morgan, who’s previous credits include Shame, which also starred Anne-Marie Duff, The Iron Lady, which starred Meryl Streep. It’s been produced by Alison Owen (Tulip Fever) and Faye Ward (The Other Boleyn Girl).
DVD and Blu-ray extras
DVD special features:
- Inside Suffragette
- Suffragette: Looking Back, Looking Forward
- Making the special effects for Suffragette
- Feature Commentary with Director Sarah Gavron and Screenwriter Abi Morgan
Blu-ray special features:
All DVD extras plus…
- Digital Copy of Suffragette (Digital Copy redemption code subject to expiration. See product insert for details.)
- Includes UltraViolet (Subject to expiration. Go to NBCUCodes.com for details.)
First impressions
Two wrongs don’t make a right, and while the trailer below is very powerful and moving it does sort of imply that the film is going to centre on the more negative elements of the suffragette movement. It’s true that some portions of the suffragette activists felt that they had little recourse but to respond ferociously to the oppression and lack of human rights at the time, but we’re bigger fans of more peaceful expressions of protest, which were more significant to the movement than the militant efforts that feature in the film.
In fact history judges the violent acts, which included stone-throwing, window-smashing and the arson of unoccupied buildings – quite harshly, implying that they may have contributed to the prolonged lack of women’s suffrage in the UK. However, it is an integral part of the history of the struggle for voting rights and it does look as though a wider spectrum of that history will come through in the film too.
