The directing is just beautiful. Whatever the content or themes, it's rare to find a film which is sometimes difficult to sit through but keeps you absolutely gripped.
Which brings me to the next reason to watch - Suffragette is a film about London people, based and filmed in London. The setting is stunning, including a scene in the Houses of Parliament which adds a frisson. Those actors are playing real people who were actually there, just over a century ago.
The acting is, of course, exemplary. Carey Mulligan plays Maud Watts with little make-up and a growing passion for equality for women. At the beginning, she almost doesn't realise how unfair it is. There's a slight disappointment as she hands her pay check to her husband but it takes meetings with other women - led by Helena Bonham-Carter in one of her best roles - to spark her awareness. It's half-way through the film before she's able to admit "I am a Suffragette".
This truly is a remarkable film, with two fabulous male characters who are clearly products of their generation but with a growing awareness of their own. Ben Whishaw was interviewed on the red carpet and he understood his character very well, while clearly being a supporter or the benefits that came to society from the actions of these brave women. Never mind taking your daughters to see this film - take your sons!
It's the first film to be made about the Suffragette movement. I wonder why that could be. Purse strings held largely by men? I'd love it to be so popular it shows that films about women can be popular. And not a song or a dance in it anywhere!
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