Maud watts biography definition

British film by Sarah Gavron

Suffragette is a British historical drama film about women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw, and Meryl Streep.^[4]

Filming began on 24 February It is the first feature film to be shot in the Houses of Parliament.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on 12 October by the French film company Pathé through its British distributor 20th Century Fox. Originally scheduled to be released by Relativity Media, the film was ultimately released in a limited release in North America on 23 October by Focus Features.

Plot

In , Maud Watts is a year-old laundry worker.

While delivering a package, she is caught up in a suffragette protest which includes her workmate, Violet Miller.

Alice Haughton, the wife of an MP, encourages women from the laundry to testify to a Parliamentary committee. Violet offers but is beaten by her abusive husband and Maud testifies. The women later learn, at a public announcement, that the vote is not to be extended.

Maud is caught up in the protest, arrested, and jailed for a week. While in jail, she meets Emily Davison, a confidante of Emmeline Pankhurst.

Maud faces stigma from neighbours and workmates.

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She tells her husband Sonny that she will stay away from the suffragettes, but attends a secret rally to hear Pankhurst speak. She has a brief exchange with Pankhurst. Again detained, she is taken home by police. This time, her husband throws her out. Maud struggles to see her son, continuing to work. When her picture is published as a known suffragette she is sacked and, past breaking point, she burns the hand of her male supervisor, who has been sexually abusing girls in the laundry for years, including Maud when she was younger, and Maggie, Violet's daughter.

The police are called, and Inspector Steed allows Maud to leave, offering her an opportunity to act as an informer. After leaving, Maud writes a letter to Steed refusing his offer.

Sonny continues to prevent Maud from seeing their son, George. This prompts Maud into more radicalism in favour of women's rights.

She learns that Sonny has had George adopted by another couple. Maud becomes more radical and is involved in bombing pillar boxes and cutting telegraph wires. She and her comrades are imprisoned after they blow up the empty house of a government minister. In prison, Maud goes on hunger strike and is subjected to brutal force-feeding.

The suffragettes feel that they must do still more to gain attention. They decide to attend the Derby when King George V will be in attendance, planning to step in front of the cameras and unfurl their banners. Before they go, Emily Davison hands Maud a copy of Dreams (), a book by Olive Schreiner that has been passed from one suffragette to another.

On the day of the Derby, only Maud and Emily attend.

Maud watts biography definition us history Before they go, Emily Davison hands Maud a copy of Dreams , a book by Olive Schreiner that has been passed from one suffragette to another. Page updated. With so many men in the battlefield, women took on many important roles in society and business, effectively proving their worth. To gain support for their right to vote, suffragettes turned away from peaceful protest and embraced militant tactics that grew to include window breaking and arson.

They are barred from the area near the King, but Emily decides that they must carry on anyway. While the race is underway, Emily runs onto the track, stepping in front of the King's horse, and Maud witnesses her being trampled to death. After returning to London, Maud retrieves Violet's daughter from the laundry, and takes her to the home of Alice Haughton, who agrees that Maggie can work there instead.

Maud later joins in Emily's funeral procession. The film ends by stating that Emily's funeral was reported around the world; and that certain women over 30 in the UK were given the right to vote in , rights over their own children in , and the same voting rights as men in Scrolling text lists countries that preceded Britain in giving women the vote and others that did so later.

Cast

Only Pankhurst, Davison, Lloyd George and King George V are not fictitious.

Production

Development

In April , it was announced that Film4 Productions, Focus Features and Ruby Films were developing a history drama film about the British women's suffrage movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.^[10]Abi Morgan was set to write the script while Sarah Gavron was attached to direct the film.^[10] On 24 October , it was revealed that Pathé had replaced Focus, while the BFI Film Fund was to fund the film and that Ryan Kavanaugh was attached to produce it.^[5]

Casting

Carey Mulligan was cast to play the lead role on 24 February ;^[5]Helena Bonham Carter joined on 20 December ;^[6]Meryl Streep was cast as British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst on 19 February ;^[4]Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson joined the cast on 20 February ^[9]

Filming

Principal photography began on 24 February in London.^[9] The production also visited The Historic Dockyard Chatham where they filmed the factory and prison scenes.^[11]

Release

The film was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 12 October by Pathé, distributed by 20th Century Fox.^[12]

In October , Relativity Media acquired only the North American rights and Pathé acquired the international rights to distribute Suffragette.

However, on 17 March , Focus Features took over the North American distribution rights, also acquiring rights for Latin America, India, South Korea and most of Eastern Europe including Russia, with producer Ryan Kavanaugh dropping out as producer following the bankruptcy of Relativity.^[13] Focus Features then set the film for a limited release in the United States on 23 October ^[14]

In June , it was announced that Suffragette would receive its European premiere on 7 October as the opening film of the BFI London Film Festival.

Biography definition and examples To promote the film before its October release, Suffragette teamed with the magazine Time Out London to develop a marketing campaign featuring the film's stars. The website's critical consensus reads, " Suffragette dramatizes an important — and still painfully relevant — fact-based story with more than enough craft and sincerity to overcome its flaws. To gain support for their right to vote, suffragettes turned away from peaceful protest and embraced militant tactics that grew to include window breaking and arson. Filming began on 24 February

The LFF director, Clare Stewart, said Gavron's feature was an "urgent and compelling film, made by British women, about British women who changed the course of history".^[15] The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on 4 September

To promote the film before its October release, Suffragette teamed with the magazine Time Out London to develop a marketing campaign featuring the film's stars.

After its publication in September , the resulting material generated controversy among media outlets. Mulligan, Streep, Garai and Duff appeared in a promotional photograph wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a Pankhurst quotation used in the film: "I'd rather be a rebel than a slave". This quickly led to a media furore, with critics describing the magazine's choice of slogan "unfortunate",^[16] "tone-deaf",^[17] and "racist".^[18] Scholar Ana Stevenson noted that while from a historical perspective the usage of the Pankhurst quotation in the film was accurate, "Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Romola Garai and Anne-Marie Duff are rich, privileged, white women who are celebrity movie stars – certainly not slaves"; Stevenson further argued that there is "a perversity in claiming otherwise when racial discrimination and domestic violence remain very present concerns".^[19]

The feminist group Sisters Uncut demonstrated at the London premiere against government cuts to domestic violence services.

Bonham Carter described the protest as "perfect. If you feel strongly enough about something and there's an injustice there you can speak out and try to get something changed".

Maud watts biography definition wikipedia This prompts Maud into more radicalism in favour of women's rights. In prison, Maud goes on hunger strike and is subjected to brutal force-feeding. Archived from the original on 13 June Davison was tireless and ingenious.

Carey Mulligan said that the protest was "awesome" and that she was sad she had missed it.^[20]

Reception

Box office

Suffragette grossed $38 million against a budget of $14 million.^[3]

Critical reception

Suffragette has received positive reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 73%, based on reviews, with an average rating of / The website's critical consensus reads, "Suffragette dramatizes an important – and still painfully relevant – fact-based story with more than enough craft and sincerity to overcome its flaws."^[21] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 64 out of , based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[22]

Awards

• British Independent Film Awards, Best Supporting Actor, Brendan Gleeson^[23]
• Hamptons International Film Festival, Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award, Sarah Gavron
• Hollywood Film Awards, Actress of the Year, Carey Mulligan
• Mill Valley Film Festival, Audience Award, Mind the Gap, Sarah Gavron

See also

References

Further reading

Has a lot influence from the Foster Lawson cult classic. Suffragette a recruitment story

External links