Sarah Gavron: Suffragette City
By Alex Simon
A century has passed since the suffrage movement swept the U.S. and the U.K. in a heated, often violent battle waged by women who were fed up with being second-class citizens, symbolized and crystalized by their being refused the right to vote. Director Sarah Gavron, whose acclaimed first feature Brick Lane (2007) also dealt with feminist issues, brings the story to life with her latest film, Suffragette. Set in 1912, the film follows Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), a working class woman employed in a laundry along with her husband (Ben Whishaw). Maud becomes fed up with the way she and the other women in the laundry are treated, and soon finds herself on the front lines of the suffrage movement: picketing, striking and going to greater, more violent extremes, to make their voices heard. The film co-stars Brendan Gleeson, Helena Bonham-Carter, Anne-Marie Duff and Meryl Streep, as Suffragette leader Emmeline Parkhurst. The Focus Features, Pathé, Film4, and BFI presentation hits U.S. cinemas today, October 23, 2015.
Sarah Gavron sat down with The Hollywood Interview recently at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Here’s what transpired:
This film deals with a lot of the same themes as Brick Lane, so obviously this is something close to your heart.
Sarah Gavron: Yes, not that many people have made that connection. The idea of a woman being empowered and finding her voice, emerging against the odds so to speak, is very powerful to me. I have kind of a mixed background: my mother’s father was very much of the mindset that women should stay in the kitchen and that my mother should have just left school at fifteen and become a wife. She went on to forge her way as a local politician in the Labour Party, and really defied him. Then, it’s very tough to be a woman in film, because it’s still so dominated by men.
The irony is that early on, there were many women filmmakers.
That’s right, during the silent years. I wonder what happened there.
I think it was a combination of things: the Depression knocked the entire social order off its axis, then the war sent women into factories while the men were off fighting, then post-war, things went back to being “traditional,” and it was twenty years later.
That’s true and we’re still recovering from it today, sadly.
You mentioned being from a “mixed background.”
My father was a businessman and also involved with the Labour Party. My mother grew up very poor. Her mother was a cleaning woman, or “charwoman,” and then my dad came from a solidly middle class family, went into business and became very successful.
Then you attended the National Film School in England. What was that like?
Yes, I trained in the directing course, which was amazing. They only take five people per year, so you get lots of personal attention. Stephen Frears was my teacher, and he’s just amazing.
Was there one particular movie that made me fall in love with movies?
What happened was, my family weren’t film buffs and I was always interesting in painting, art and drama. Then, when I was about 18 or 19, I started going to the cinema and saw films by people like Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, and they were all about Britain and reflective of the world around me, so that’s when I fell in love with film, but it never occurred to me that I could be a director, as a woman. Then, in my mid-20s, I saw films by amazing women directors like Mira Nair, Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow, and I thought, ‘Wow, you can do this.’ That’s when I decided to apply to the National Film School.
How did Suffragette come to you?
I had been thinking about (the suffrage movement) for quite a while. We hadn’t been taught it at school and it’s been so marginalized over the years. It’s still timely. It has so many resonances with what’s still going on in the world today.
Was it challenging to get financed?
Yes, in a way. It took six years to get the project off the ground. It fell apart a few times. Making a film by women about women wasn’t always easy, but we managed to find a few champions. We had these great, tenacious producers who were great at getting films off the ground, and were also lucky that there has been a resurgence of women’s issues being on the forefront, whereas three or four years ago, that wasn’t the case.
Was Meryl Streep being attached what broke the final straw?
Actually, no, she was the last person to be attached, so we were already on our way. We had Carey in mind all the way, then when we got Helena Bonham-Carter it was doubly wonderful because she’s the great-granddaughter of the prime minister at that time. It was tougher casting the male roles, to be honest, because I think a lot of the actors felt like there wasn’t as much for them to do. (laughs)
Was Meryl Streep always your first choice for the role of Emmeline Parkhurst?
Actually, that’s a funny story: Carey Mulligan was on a walk with her mum, and she was talking about who should be cast as Mrs. Parkhurst. Her mum immediately said “Well, you have to get Meryl Streep!” And that’s where the idea came from. And Meryl is such a great advocate for women in the film industry.
One thing I really appreciated about the film was that everyone’s viewpoint on both sides of the argument was very clear. The only true villainous creep was the factory boss. Everyone else was very measured.
I’m glad you feel that way, because that was our intention. Equality is good for everybody.
One thing I noticed about how you portrayed the suffrage movement was the tremendous unity among the women involved, with the slight exception of Helena Bonham-Carter’s character toward the end. I think that’s one thing missing from the progressive movement now: everyone is a different kind of “ist,” instead of just being “humanist” or “progressive,” which dilutes the strength of any kind of progressive movement against the Far Right.
I agree. I think the thing that made the suffrage movement so powerful was the tremendous unity that they had and that collectivity of purpose might be missing now.
What was the atmosphere like on the set?
There was a great sense of camaraderie on the set, largely due to the subject matter, I think. And that sense went across the board: Brendan Gleeson and Ben Whishaw were very supportive and part of that. Brendan even said “I’ve never been on such an estrogen-filled set. It’s wonderful!” (laughs)
Once people became aware of what these women went through a century ago, was there an increased sense of activism sparked amongst the cast and crew?
I think it awakened everybody to an extent. I think they realized how hard-fought it was for women to get the vote and the fact that we’ve become rather complacent with it at this point, if we haven’t forgotten it, altogether. I think the biggest lesson it taught us all is the importance of being willing to speak out, and never taking that for granted.
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