Themes: Questioning Gender Roles, Fighting the System, Women's Friendship
Main Cast: Hilary Swank, Frances O'Connor, Julia Ormond, Anjelica Huston, Molly Parker
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
German filmmaker Katja von Garnier directs the HBO original movie Iron Jawed Angels, inspired by a pivotal chapter in American history. Hilary Swank plays Alice Paul, an American feminist who risked her life to fight for women's citizenship and the right to vote. She founded the separatist National Woman's Party and wrote the first equal rights amendment to be presented before Congress. Together with social reformer Lucy Burns (Frances O'Connor), Paul struggled against conservative forces in order to pass the 19th amendment to the Constitution of the United States. One of their first actions was a parade on President Woodrow Wilson's (Bob Gunton) inauguration day. The suffragettes also encountered opposition from the old guard of the National American Women's Suffrage Association, Carrie Chapman Catt (Anjelica Huston). The activists get arrested and go on a well-publicized hunger strike, where their refusal to eat earns them the title of "the iron-jawed angels." Iron Jawed Angels was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 before its television premiere on HBO. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
For Americans, the right to vote is so taken for granted that it's hard to believe it was unavailable to the country's women until 1920, and not until after quite a fight. Chronicling this overlooked but major chapter in the history of U.S. civil rights, Iron Jawed Angels is an accomplished biopic that covers a lot of ground without sacrificing the personal details of its characters. The film is refreshing in the way it relegates male characters to the background and puts its full focus on an array of heroic women. Hilary Swank gives an assured and inspiring performance as Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman's Party, a radical organization that sought nothing less than full voting rights for women. The fine cast is rounded out by Frances O'Connor's understated Lucy Burns, Molly Parker as a senator's wife who defies her husband to become active in the movement, the ever-luminous Julia Ormond, and Anjelica Huston in a fun, scene-stealing role. Patrick Dempsey serves as what might have been a token "love interest" in a lesser film, but here he symbolizes the choice Alice must make between the cause and her personal life. The film's use of contemporary songs and cinematography is a potentially bold stylistic choice that doesn't always work. The intent is clearly to make past events more relevant to a modern audience, and while this strategy succeeds to a certain extent, it also serves to occasionally distance the viewer from the story. Nonetheless, the film excels at depicting the real sacrifices of the women involved, especially in the harrowing prison scenes, as well as in showing the development of nonviolent protest techniques that were later used successfully in other political movements. Iron Jawed Angels vibrantly brings to life a neglected period of America's civil rights struggle without making it seem like a history lesson. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
Iron Jawed Angels is a 2004 film about the Americanwomen's suffrage movement during the 1910s. It was filmed in Virginia, produced by HBO Films, and released in 2004. It received a standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival, [1]
The film, directed by Katja von Garnier, follows political activists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns as they use peaceful and effective strategies, tactics, and dialogues to revolutionize the American feminist movement to grant women the right to vote.
Over time, tension between the NWP and NAWSA grows as NAWSA leaders criticize NWP tactics such as direct protesting of a wartime President and picketing directly outside the White House with their Silent Sentinels. Relations between the American government and the NWP protesters also intensify, as hundreds of women are arrested for their actions, though the official charge is "obstructing traffic." They are sent to Occoquan Workhouse for 60-day terms where they suffer poor conditions. During this time, Paul and other women undergo a hunger strike during which prison authorities force feed them milk and raw eggs through a tube. News of their treatment leaks to the media through the husband of one of the imprisoned women who had been able to lobby for a visit (the suffragists are depicted as otherwise unable to see visitors or lawyers). The media dubs these women 'Iron Jawed Angels.' Pressure is put on President Wilson as NAWSA seizes the opportunity to lobby tirelessly for the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution.
Paul, Burns and all of the other women are eventually pardoned by President Wilson. The Supreme Court rules that their arrests were, in fact, unconstitutional.
^ Interview with Paul Fischer at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.[1]
^ Elizabeth Skipper.Review of Iron-Jawed Angels, DVD Verdict, November 1, 2004: I also noticed Molly Parker (Deadwood) as the supporting character of Emily Leighton, a Senator's wife. Parker's character—a fabricated figure, we learn from the commentary ... .
^ DVD Verdict: "In this movie, Alice is given a fledgling romance with political cartoonist Ben Weissman ... . According to the audio commentary, he is another completely fictional character, created to give Alice a (sort of) love interest. ... Admittedly, I am pleased that Ben remained such a minor character. Any other movie would have made him the focus, and would have brought the couple together at the end to show that passion for a cause does not have to supersede passion for a man. Now that I know Ben never existed, though, his presence seems unnecessary. Why should a story about women's fight for equality need a man at all?"
