Suffragette: Equal to the task

SUFFRAGETTE
*** (out of four)
DIRECTED BY Sarah Gavron
STARS Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter

With Suffragette, screenwriter Abi Morgan has managed to pen a movie about Britain’s working-class women that’s a far sight better than the dud she scripted about Britain’s upper-class harridan, Margaret Thatcher. Whereas The Iron Lady soft-pedaled its central character and wasted too many scenes on fabricated interludes, this new picture is more successful in lacing the factual with the fictional and in presenting the hardships faced by women who simply wanted to be treated equally.

Certainly, it’s a story that, although taking place in 1912, continues to resonate today. But Morgan and director Sarah Gavron refrain from making any heavy-handed parallels; instead, their tale unfolds naturally, using the fictional character of Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) to illustrate the political and social awakening of a victim of patriarchal laws and crushing double standards.

Mulligan, ill-used in far too many movies since her formidable breakthrough in 2009’s An Education, is excellent in the central role, while Helena Bonham Carter lends steely support as veteran activist Edith Ellyn (another fictional construct, albeit one based on a real person). As for Meryl Streep, she pops up to deliver a fiery speech as real-life movement leader Emmeline Pankhurst. Don’t let Streep’s generous star billing fool you: She’s essentially been cast in a bit part, one that even the smitten Academy will be hard-pressed to honor with an Oscar nomination — and a straight face — in next year’s contest.

This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2015.