Suffragettes Movie Analysis

Suffragette is a historical film that is taken from the time period of women's suffrage in the 19th and 20th century of Great Britain. This film is about a courageous woman named Maud Watts who is a wife and mother. She works as a laundress and stumbles on a journey to finds her voice in the fight to support women’s rights. One day while on a package delivery run she witnesses a protest happening in the streets and see’s a colleague, sparking her interest. Maud understands what the suffragettes are fighting for and realizes that it is her fight too, but at that time it was dangerous for anyone who chose to stand with them. Following that event she makes her first action in support of the suffragettes defying her husband and boss and volunteered

to attend a court session which led to her speaking. This was the first of many actions that strengthened Maud’s fight with the suffragettes to gain the right for women to vote. But, in doing so there were many repercussions for her actions. First her husband threw her out of her house, then he gave their child up for adoption without her consent. At that time is history husbands had all the control over their wives are were allowed to make all decisions. Although through each event I believe it made her fight harder. In the end they reached their accomplishment through “Deeds not Words”, as their motto was. In 1928 all women were allowed to the right to vote in the United Kingdom. This films goal was to show the movement of the suffragettes and all that they did for the women in their country. Many people are unaware of how women’s rights around the world came into place and this movie gives so much insight and knowledge.
In my personal review of the film I would give it an eight out of ten.

There were so many favorite moments that I loved and had no idea of the historical accuracy behind it, but there is a lot more detail that could be added to it. To explain, the movie didn’t show any the opposing views. Men were clearly upset by the actions of the disobedient women but there were never full reasons to their outrage. By adding a few more detailed scenes the director could have persuaded the audience even further that there needed to be a change for women. To add to that, there also wasn’t any women of color represented in the movie. Suffragette is represented as a feminist film and being so the director should have did a better job of showing more than one type of woman. Other than that I have no further critiques for this great movie. The first highlight in the film for me was when Maud walked into her once home, she shared with her son and husband, to see her son leaving. He was being adopted to a wealthier family that could better take care of him and Maud had no idea. She was heartbroken to see her son taken away, but the moment she left the house she began to fight harder. In outrage she took all her sadness and pain and directed her energy into a positive protest. That scene was extremely powerful and emotional to see because she showed a lot of strength. The next highlight of the film was the death of Emily Davison. Later on I will go into more detail about her real life story, but the incident leading to her death was really astonishing to see. The film did a great job of capturing the audience’s reaction. The shock on their faces was same as the one shared on mine, It was a moment no one would see

coming.
All of my favorite moments from the film are moments in history that happened during the suffragette women’s movement. But those are not the only highlights of the film. It is the cast of all women and the women in history that make this movie so special. Let me share some of the truth behind these amazing characters.
Emmeline Pankhurst is an important person to introduce this story with, it was because of all her hard work that went into building the Suffragette movement that they able to transform the United Kingdom. Before Pankhurst’s time there was already the idea of the women's movement but they were not able to make any change in the laws. At that time only men were able to vote and Emmeline Pankhurst thought it was time to make physical actions so that people would hear their cry. She thought if they all made so much noise, as in violence, the media had to recognize them. Together in 1903 the suffragettes formed and follow the motto “deeds, not words”, changing the UK. The director chose the talented actor Meryl Streep to play her role. In the film she wasn’t showed much, maybe once or twice. Although, in those few moments you could see how much the suffragettes valued the words she spoke. And very much wanted to make her proud.
The main character of the film is an ordinary woman named Maud Watts. Maud is a fictional character based on multiple women during that time period like Hannah Mitchell that didn’t have much but wanted their voice to be heard. There isn’t one direct person she was modeled from, but through the few recorded women during that time they were able to put together a character that resembled a large group of women during that time. Carey Mulligan is a wonderful character to play Maud because she captures a lot of incredible features. Mulligan portrayed Maud to be a woman who transformed into a wiser, stronger and courageous person. We saw in the beginning someone who blind to the hurt that was happening country wide. Then we witnessed her being to show compassion as she shares what getting the right would mean to her inside the courtroom. And In the end it when she reaches self actualization, her courageous confidence cannot be missed. I loved that instead of picking a woman who was an influencer at that time and more well know they created a character we all could be. A young girl might learn about the many things Emmeline Pankhurst was able to do for the women's movement and become discouraged as it seems impossible to do today; but seeing a more relatable character like Maud Watts can encourage anyone to want to make a change.
Another great activist during that time was Emily Wilding Davison. Emily was one of the few educated women that used her role as a platform. In an article written by Gay Gillickson he writes, “The leaders of the WSPU hailed her as a hero and a martyr who sacrificed her life to call the government to account for treatment of women and advance the cause of women’s rights.” I think that sums up her legacy perfectly. In the suffragette film they capture her shocking death but, she did so much more than the one single deed that ended her life. In a second article by Brian Daniel, he writes, “She was arrested and imprisoned for various offences nine times” and goes on to explain that during some of her stays in prison she was force fed and food deprived. In the film the first time Davison is shown is the prison court yard, after Maud gets arrested for the first time. Although most people only remember her final act of protest, due to how tragic it was. It was derby day June 4, 1913 and one theory of what her intentions were was to put a “vote for women” flag on the king's horse as it ran to win the race. By doing so it would capture the media’s attention and grab the attention of a large amount of people. Another theory that some have is that she purposely put her life on the line as a final act of protest. An exact answer is never given even though she died four days later.
These were not the only women in Suffragette that were apart of the true suffragettes, there were plenty of more people that has a helping hand in women gaining the right to vote. Watching Suffragette made me want to learn more, and that is what I think they intended to do. I don’t think it is possible for a film to be perfect. There will always be positives and negatives, but if the message is able to come across effortlessly, it is all worth it. It was a message of persistence. It was a message of strength. It was a message of courage. These women bombed mail boxes, houses, and even shattered windows. Although in the end it was all worth it because all women over 21 were able to vote in 1928. The stores of these women will never be forgotten as powerful individuals and as a powerful group. Emmeline Pankhurst for moving away from subtle non violent acts that didn’t grab much attention, to violent acts that grabbed the attention of a whole country. Emily Wilding Davison for her fearless courageous acts. And last a fictional character Maud Watts that's every feminist woman can relate to. Choosing Suffragette for my film analysis was a perfect choice for me because I truly an in support for women to gain the rights they deserve. Watching this movie and researching these women on my own taught me so much about a time in history I never thought about. Suffragette is now one of my favorite movies.