'Suffragette' goes on release today, the first feature film to tell the story of the ordinary British women at the turn of the last century who risked everything in the fight for equality and the right to vote.
It seems strange to behold now that women are running countries and corporations, but just over a hundred years ago, their fight for the basic right to vote forced a growing group of female foot soldiers into a increasingly brutal game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Carey Mulligan and Anne-Marie Duff star in 'Suffragette'
Gentlemen today (mostly) appear full of respect for their female folk. And for the few that don't like it, well, there are laws to help them keep quiet. But if you don't believe it wasn't always this way, check out the almost laughable anti-suffragette posters that were used to keep those fighting women 'in their place' only a few short generations ago. And, no, these are not satirical - they were all for real, shown here courtesy of the Museum of London!
These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalised and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality - their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives.
Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Anne-Marie Duff and Helena Bonham-Carter star in this film, both heartbreaking and inspirational.
'Suffragette' goes on general release in the UK today.