Suffragette

Last night the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield showed a premiere screening of Suffragette complete with a pre-show live theatre promenade performance, following the footsteps of Emmeline Pankhurst who made a prominent visit to the town in 1906 at the start of the Suffragette movement.

The evening began with a crowd gathering in St. George Square at sunset and I was surprised that we seemed to be the youngest people there. We were given suffragette colours and badges to pin to our coats and crowded eagerly around the statue of Harold Wilson to listen to suffragette Annie Kenny talk to us about the local suffrage movement and her escapades in London, all the while being heckled by two bearded, cape wearing, policemen. 

We then headed down to Market Cross (escorted by the bearded, cape wearing, policemen) where we heard Emmeline Pankhurst speak on the necessity of militant action. By this time we were fired up and cheering along to her speech. Our march then continued to the Town Hall where Dora Thewlis, Huddersfield’s own ‘Baby’ suffragette railed against her title and the patronising way she and her family had been treated by the magistrates in London. She was particularly (and understandably) indignant that they thought she was from Lancashire. Finally, we processed down to the theater waving our banners and shouting 'Votes for Women' as we went. 

Photo shamelessly stolen from Charlotte

The film itself was fantastic.  The plot is heavily character driven, much more so than I expected, and rather than attempting to give a historical account of the movement as a whole, instead focuses on the acts of the individual. I had expected to see more of Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst. A lot of the film's publicity has been focused on her so I was surprised that she only featured briefly in a couple of scenes. Instead, the plot follows the story of laundry worker Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) as she becomes increasingly involved in the Suffragette movement after meeting Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff) and Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter). Interestingly Helena Bonham Carter is the great-granddaughter of Harold Asquith who served a Prime Minister during the prime years of the suffrage movement and who opposed their cause. Ben Whishaw is fantastic as Maud’s husband Sonny and definitely wins the worst father of the year award and is tied with the laundry owner for the being the biggest bastard of the film. 

There was a point about half way through when I wondered why I wasn’t feel massively emotionally involved. Don’t get me wrong I was thoroughly enjoying it but I hadn't felt any of the strong moments of solidarity, anger, or sadness that I had expected to by this point. Obviously as soon as I thought this ALL the emotions arrived at once and I cried on and off throughout the second half of the film. There is a beautifully touching scene where Edith Ellyn is prevented from attending the Derby by her husband which might have broken my heart a little bit.

Incidentally, the Derby scene was one of the standout moments of the film for me. From the moment Maude mentions the word ‘Derby’ you’re anticipating the moment Emily Wilding Davison (Natalie Press) steps out in front of the King's horse. It’s heart-breaking watching her in the minutes leading up to the incident knowing what is about to happen. From a cinematic perspective that scene stole the show, it was produced fantastically. The way the noise of the crowd crescendos to a deafening roar, to then cut abruptly silence on the moment of impact, was incredibly effective and very moving. I was similarly moved by the use of the original film footage of Emily’s funeral which served to remind that whilst this film is a work of fiction, it is based on historical events and the lives of women who fought and died so that women like me can have the right to vote.

The film ends with a rolling list of the dates women’s suffrage was achieved in a number of different countries. Some of these were quite shocking – for instance women couldn’t vote in Switzerland until 1971. The final of these dates - "2015: Universal suffrage promised in Saudi Arabia" served as a poignant reminder that whilst in England at least the suffragettes have succeeded, elsewhere the fight continues.