Much like slavery in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, it is shocking that it has taken until 2015 for cinema to finally address the suffrage movement. Despite being one of the most important political movements in recent history, besides an over the top, caricatured representation in Mary Poppins, the suffragettes have frankly been poorly served. What this has done, therefore, is pile huge amounts of pressure on director Sarah Gavron and her team to make the film that many have been waiting for. Luckily for us, she more than pulls it off.

Despite writer Abi Morgan’s original plan to make a biopic; Suffragette follows the story of a fictional, composite character Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), a working-class mother who, despite not initially identifying as a suffragette, is steadily seduced by the movement and its causes.

Yet Maud is by no means the focus of the film. Gavron shines light on all her cast and it’s her handling of her characters that impresses most. Thanks to Morgan, the film provides interesting discussion about the class divide within the movement, with the film highlighting that middle class suffragettes had a financial safety net which working class women like Maud simply did not.

Suffragette also has a wonderful balance of characters in terms of gender. It would have been lazy to simply create a male versus female environment, yet the film stays well clear of this; both the male and female characters are diverse, flawed, and are challenged throughout, making Suffragette a mainstream film to be exemplified.
Yet throughout the film, you do get the sense that Gavron is afraid to linger. The film is fast paced and so quickly edited, with most scenes lasting no longer than one minute, that you at times feel like the film is pushing you away and preventing you from really getting under the skin of its characters. This is made more frustrating by Gavron’s interest in the mass, with the camera often focusing on the chaos of the crowd rather than the chaos of the individual. It seems as if the film is attempting to portray a mass movement through the masses on screen, but a focus on a few individuals probably would have made for a more effective film.

Yet all this is counteracted by the film’s main performances. Playing Carey Mulligan’s character in other hands could have been a thankless task, she, however, manages to steer the film from the mere generic to create a believable heroine at the centre of it. And despite Gavron’s inclination to the crowd, her cast’s commitment allows rather ideological concepts to be at the forefront of the film.

In the end, it’s hard to describe Suffragette as anything other than conventional storytelling. Despite its radical subject matter, the film itself is far from it. Yet this isn’t necessarily to be criticised. Yes, its form is traditional, but Gavron by no means takes off any hard edges, allowing her to tell the story effectively and accurately. And despite my reservations, Suffragette is ultimately a success; an important story made by women, about women, but for a mass audience.

And if that’s not to be celebrated in our current cinematic climate, then I don’t know what is.