British Actress Blog

Suffragette (2015)

Score: 7/10

Director: Sarah Gavron

Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Carey Mulligan, Grace Stottor.

The Honorable Mention Series:

Synopsis: The foot soldiers of the early suffrage movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.

Review: Maud Watts ( Carey Mulligan ) is a factory worker who lives In London of 1912 when she is introduced to a group of women who are fighting for a women’s right to vote and equality. These women take on the very dangerous task of fighting for what they believe in, even choosing to use extremely questionable methods that would make a person question if they are the heroes or the villains.

Helena Bonham Carter played another character who was concerned with the issues of women in the film The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013). I am always satisfied with her performance in a film. She is one of my favorite actresses so I have decided to write more about her movies on this web site. Carey Mulligan gave a truly heart felt performance. She is really good and I enjoyed seeing her hard work in this movie. You can tell that all of the actresses gave their real feelings in their performances since this film focused on a real issue for them. I prefer to see real English women playing as English characters on camera, especially when the film is a period piece. You really feel like you are looking back into time its self when watching a movie like this. The film Atomic Blond (2017) has Charlize Theron, who is a excellent actress and one of my favorites but, there is definitely something lost in her ‘portrayal’ as a British women. The same can be said with so many American actresses. there is an abundance of British actresses so why not use them in your films to played British characters?

The film focuses on the concept of equality but is anything really equal. Always perusing equality keeps us from staying complacent with inequality. Interestingly enough we are seeing a difference in human strength. The Journal of Hand Therapy ( yes it’s a real thing apparently ) shows that millennial men have significantly less physical strength than the previous generations such as Baby boomers and Gen-Xers. Nature and technology have taken their toll on men of this generation while women seem to be bridging the gap of strength. Women are getting slightly stronger. Advanced robotics, automation, and the conversion of manual labor jobs to desk jobs are changing men of this generation as well. Dopamine addiction in the form of social media and the addiction to mobile devices are not helping either. Bad spinal posture and near sightedness are other ailments effecting men due to the over use of mobile devices. A new study from the Heritage Foundation shows that 71 percent of American males from ages 17 to 24 are not capable of joining the U.S. armed forces. Health, education, and criminal records are also taking their toll on the young men of America, while in recent times women have been allowed into the military special forces. Its a strange paradigm shift but it is leading into equality more so since men of this generation are losing their strength and women are becoming far more physically equal. ‘Life will find a way’ - Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park.

We live in a very strange era where we are rapidly seeing a change in people. Humans are living longer now than ever and we can see that each generation thinks differently than the previous generation. Archaic belief systems are falling out of the human consciousness. Its really amazing how people can treat each other so badly. Some religions say that humans are inherently ‘good’ but sometimes you have to wonder when you see how much humans tend to hurt each other. As of right now Generation-Z is becoming multicultural and very scientific, which shows the previous generations that no matter how they try to make the next generation believe the way they want Gen-Z to think, they will believe in their own way of thinking. The future belongs to the next generation apparently. As of the time of this review, the British Prime Minister is Theresa May, a female, which lets us now that the sacrifice that the real life women who fought for equality have accomplish a major goal.

The cinematography is well done, The lighting, set dressing, wardrobe, and backgrounds are all very well done. The film makes you feel like you are looking into the past. This is a more serious film focusing on the sacrifices that these women have made for equality, so its not a happy film at all. This is an eye opening movie that kept me entertained. Some of the scenes are very disturbing and not enjoyable to watch. In today’s world the film shows triumph for women. If this film where to be released in lets say the 90s, it may be far more depressing. This is a politically charged movie, so people wanting to escape from their current reality may want to watch something else. Other than that, the film is just alright, but better than most movies.

More Films from Helena Bonham Carter

Fight Club (1999)

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

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