Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep Fight for the Right to Vote in Suffragette

Posted on September 6, 2015

The first trailer for Suffragette is out and it's quite powerful. The film tells the story of how British women got the vote after 50 years of campaigning for it while being mocked, beaten up and jailed for daring to request a say in making the laws of the nation of which they were citizens.

The story is told through the eyes of several women from different walks of life. Carey Mulligan stars as Maud Watts, a woman who has worked in the laundry since she was seven years old. She has been obedient all her life, but when her boss keeps making unwanted advances towards her she realizes that it will be up to the women to demand the changes they deserve. Helena Bonham Carter co-stars as Edith Ellyn and Meryl Streep co-stars as one of the founding leaders of the movement, Emmeline Parkhurst.

The supporting cast includes Ben Whishaw as Sonny Watts, Maud's husband and Breandan Gleeson as Inspector Arthur Steed who would jail every woman in England if it would stop their rebellion. Romola Garai, Anne-Marie Duff, Samuel West, Morgan Watkins and Adrian Schiller.

In 1918 Britain passed the the Representation of the People Act which allowed women over the age of 30 who owned property to vote. But 60% of the women in England did not meet the test. It was not until 1928 that women over 21 received the fight to vote with the same rights as men.

Meryl Streep's portrayal of Emmeline Pankhurst is riveting. Ms. Pankhurst was the founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) which had the motto "Deeds not words." She was fed up with the lack of progress of the movement and correctly determined that the only way men would take them seriously is if they took actual action -- civil disobedience, marching on Parliament, and targeted acts of property damage. When the women's movement finally looked like an actual revolution, the men finally paid attention.

The film was directed by Sarah Gavron from a screenplay by Abi Morgan. The film is set for release on October 15, 2015. Take a look:

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