Women have played pivotal roles throughout history, yet their stories are often overlooked or condensed to a simple paragraph in history books. Cinema has the power to right this wrong and platform women’s stories. From politics to sports, women’s influence throughout history can be felt and has been portrayed in film. These films help capture some of history’s most important women.
Hidden Figures (2016, Theodore Melfi)
NASA won the space race only thanks to three African American mathematicians. Hidden Figures, based on a book of the same name, details how these overlooked women were pivotal while reflecting gender and racial issues of the time that affected the leads. The film shines a light on the resourcefulness of women in a male-dominated industry and has great performances from Tariji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Jim Parsons.
Marie Antionette (2006, Sofia Coppola)
Coppola’s Marie Antionette is a visual feast for the eyes that tells the story of the infamous Queen of France. Antonette’s (Kristen Dunst) story is portrayed as one of a young woman coming across the complexities and struggles of royalty and societal pressures. The reimagined telling of events of the Paris Riots paired with the bubblegum-coloured aesthetic makes this movie as beautiful as it is tragic in gaining an insight into Marie Antionette’s life.
Suffragette (2015, Sarah Gavron)
Based on the Suffragette movement, Gavron’s film follows the story of laundress Maud (Carey Mulligan), who joined the fight for women’s rights. From there, she is thrown out by her husband, loses her job, and has the right to see her son. She retaliates by protesting, blowing up a minister’s house and getting imprisoned. Suffragette highlights the dark realities of this era, which is necessary for people to understand what had to be done for women’s rights to be where they are today.
Battle of the Sexes (2017, Jonathon Drayton & Valerie Faris)
Set against the backdrop of second-wave feminism and exploring still prevalent gender inequality in sports, Battle of the Sexes is the story of the biggest tennis match in history between Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). The story is sparked by the inequality of women’s ticket sales being the same as the men’s, but the women’s prize is significantly less than the men’s. The film sets itself apart as a sports movie in challenging gender norms and the fight for equality both on and off the court.
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The Woman in Gold (2015, Simon Curtis)
Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) was a Jewish woman who fled Austria during the rise of the Third Reich and later in life fought to reclaim a painting stolen from her family home by the Nazis. Her story is put to the screen in The Woman in Gold and is heartfelt and gut-wrenching. It spans years of a legal battle to retrieve the titular painting, simultaneously detailing her escape from Austria in flashbacks. Mirren’s performance is beautiful, portraying Altmann with grace and nuance.
The Help (2011, Tate Taylor)
Shining a light on African-American maids, The Help is a story of racial and economic divisions during the civil rights movement. Protagonists Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) fight systemic mistreatment from their employers with the aid of an unlikely ally with writer Skeeter (Emma Stone), who publishes their accounts. Spencer, Davis and Stone play these dynamic and challenging roles excellently, and the movie does a great job contextualising the early years of the civil rights movement.
On the Basis of Sex (2018, Mimi Leder)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of the most famous women in American Politics, and the story of her early career is brought to life in On the Basis of Sex. The film’s primary focus is on Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) taking on a case of discrimination against a man based on his gender to help set legal precedence for gender discrimination. Jones embodies Ginsburg’s intelligence, determination and resilience in a male-dominated amidst one of the biggest trials of the century.
