Suffragette/4 Palm Trees

By Eduardo Victoria/[email protected]

It took many “suffragettes” to force changes in voting laws, but the use of the word in this movie’s title is singular. The story of the fight for women suffrage in early 20th century Britain is told through the eyes and the experiences of a young laundress named Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). Maud has strong, barely-concealed feelings about the way women are treated in her society, but an activist she is not. At first victimized when caught in the middle of a suffragette rock-throwing incident, she is pulled into the movement by her co-worker, Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff), and a local pharmacist named Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter). When Maud is present for a stinging political defeat and soon after witnesses an inspiring secret appearance by the movement’s real-life godmother, Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), Maud’s all in.

The conflicts in the streets and in the halls of government quickly start to become very personal for Maud, just as they did for many real-life suffragettes. Attending secret meetings of the suffragettes, she finds herself in the middle of arguments over tactics and strategies, as well as under the threat of arrest, as the group becomes more militant. She’s also caught between the group and the authorities who (in the person of Brendan Gleeson’s character) think her to be a weak link in the suffragette chain and try to force her to turn informant.

As with the other suffragettes, Maud’s commitment to the cause also has implications on the job – and in her home, where Maud’s husband, Sonny (Ben Whishaw), finds himself torn between his love for his wife and overwhelming social pressures to “deal with” her as she aligns herself with the suffragettes. Even Maud’s relationship with her young son is threatened by her role in the movement. This story benefits from Abi Morgan’s excellent script, Sarah Gavron’s sure-handed direction and the outstanding performances of all the main characters, particularly Mulligan’s, which makes us see, understand and feel how much suffragettes suffered for their cause.

Suffragette does for the women suffrage movement what 2014’s Selma did for the American civil rights movement. Much like the earlier fight to abolish slavery, the later struggle for civil rights or the more recent issue of LGBT rights, taking a look back at what it took to get women the right to vote reminds us that attaining social justice for all members of society takes time, effort, patience and sacrifice and it’s rarely pretty, but a fight on the side of right eventually triumphs.        The film tells us its ideals in a very clear and entertaining fashion – both in the context of this story’s specific issues shown and in the broader context of the ongoing struggle for equal rights by different groups of people in different countries all around the world. It isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it’s a very well-made and worthwhile look at a very important time in world history, and with important implications for the world as we know it.

Now playing at Cinemark downtown 10. Rated PG-13

The Clean House at Santa Paula Theater Center
by Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine

If you’re looking for an uncommon experience to close out the year, The Clean House, now playing on stage at the Santa Paula Theater Center may just fit the bill.

It is uncommon in many ways.  It does not have a holiday theme.  Individual performances are uncommonly good. Parts of the tale range from the sensitive and poignant to the totally anomalous.

Creatively described as a romantic comedy, the story involves a married couple, both physicians, whose young live-in cleaning lady from Brazil wants to be a comedian and who never gets around to actually cleaning the house. There’s an OCD sister whose obsession is cleaning, and who secretly agrees to clean her sister’s home for the maid.  Complications increase when the husband announces he is leaving his wife – for an older woman with breast cancer who is also from Brazil.

There are other uncommon elements in the play. The show opens with the maid telling a lengthy joke in Portuguese that is never translated. Some of the dialogue is in Portuguese with subtitles flashed above on the proscenium. The husband goes to Alaska to get a tree with medicinal qualities, but can’t get it onto a commercial flight. So, he can’t return until he learns to fly a plane himself. However, the disparate parts hang together, as confirmed by the fact the script was a 2005 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The entire cast is highly experienced, many with extensive stage, film and television credits and awards.  Although truly an ensemble piece, a pivotal performance is delicately and inspiringly delivered by Emmy winner Laurel Lyle as Dr. Lane, the physician-wife whose ordered world is shaken by uncommon events.

Holding down the clean-up spot, Sindy McKay attempts to bring dithering order to the chaos as Virginia, Dr. Lane’s cleanliness obsessed sister, and she does so with a lightheartedness that belies the character’s claims of not being interested in jokes and humor.

The maid and wanna-be comedian is convincingly played by Javiera Torres who gives the character an energy and hope.

Paul Newman portrays the wayward surgeon-husband, Charles, who falls for his patient while performing a mastectomy on her and justifies the situation by quoting Jewish law, even though he’s not Jewish.

Carmen Saveiros, who really was born in Brazil, is genuine and endearing as Ana, whose spirit and verve ultimately touch and enrich all the other characters and cause Charles to forsake his spouse.

The director is another Emmy winner, Larry Swerdlove, who has recently been adding polish and dimensions to multiple local theater productions by regularly helming plays, not only in Santa Paula, but at Ventura’s Flying H Group Theatre and the Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard.

The Clean House plays weekends to December 20. Santa Paula Theater Center, 7^th & Main Streets, Santa Paula. Friday & Saturday – 8 p.m. Sunday – 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $18-$20.   525-4645 or www.santapaulatheatercenter.org.

Please join the Ventura Film Society at 6pm on Sunday December 6th at the Museum of Ventura County for our Season 7 Closing Night Celebration. The two films we’ll be screening are “Cave Digger”, an Oscar-nominated documentary about an artist who spends ten years sculpting an other-worldly cave interior only to be cut off by his money-conscious patrons, and “Finders Keepers”, the hilarious true story of a mummified human leg and the enterprising Southern entrepreneur who refuses to return it to its rightful owner, a recovering OxyContin addict who wants it back. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors & $5 students and are available at the VFS Will Call table at the Museum or in advance from www.venturafilmsociety.com. Scratch Food Truck & No-Host Bar from 6pm. Films start at 6:45pm.

The Ventura Film Society is taking a hiatus next year so that VFS founder and director Lorenzo DeStefano can complete and release his new feature documentary film  about the amazing musician and composer, Rachel Flowers (www.rachelflowersfilm.com).

Lorenzo stated “It’s been a great 7 seasons during which the VFS has screened nearly 400 compelling alternative films and brought in scores of filmmakers and very special guests. Thanks to all of you who’ve so loyally supported us with your attendance, film sponsorships, donations and as volunteers. All of this could not have been done so successfully without you. We especially thank the City of Ventura Community Partnerships and our numerous sponsoring organizations, including the Ventura Breeze, Bell Arts Factory, Downtown Ventura Partners, , the VC Reporter, the Ventura County Star, KCLU-FM, the Museum of Ventura County, and Cinemark Theatres.”

Please visit www.facebook.com/VenturaFilmSociety as well as www.venturafilmsociety.com for future announcements. The VFS hopes to have several very special screenings for you in 2016.