As the Curtain rises on the 59th BFI London Film Festival, its opening gala couldn’t have captured the feeling of the times any better. Released right on time to support the ongoing debate about gender inequality within the film industry, as well as in our society as a whole; ‘Suffragette’ goes back to the beginning of the 20th century paying tribute to the movement for women’s right to vote.
A passion project for director Sarah Gavron, it took ten years to complete, hindered by what many perceived as the lack of commercial viability of an all-women endeavour. The final result is a solid, finely crafted, but rather conventional drama whose screenplay, penned by Abi Morgan (Shame; The Iron Lady), combines historical research with crowd pleasing elements.