SUFFRAGETTE

Excellent movie about the fight in the early 20th century for voting rights for women. It stars Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter. Meryl Streep appears on screen for about 4 minutes only as Pankhurst the head of the movement and the lady who called for civil disobedience since years of peaceful speeches and meetings and the passing out of flyers was having no impact at all.

the movie ends with one of the outspoken feisty suffragettes giving her life in a dramatic fashion during the Derby race as a way for the cause to get global attention. which it did and slowly, very slowly, voting rights were granted. Initially for instance, only "certain" women over the age of 30 were allowed to vote.

 Less than 100 years ago (there are women alive today who remember this!) women were legally subject to their husbands and had NO RIGHTS regarding their children.

All i remember being taught about the suffragette movement (of course, with time, my memory has dulled) is that women did not have the vote and then, they did. la di da!, it was a brutal battle with many many women jailed and beaten and thrown out of their house by a husband who took total control over their children.

A really powerful movie and very well acted.