Alexandre Desplat original score for Suffragette is released through Back Lot Music. The movie is a powerful drama about the women who were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality in early-20th-century Britain. The stirring story centres on Maud, a working wife and mother whose life is forever changed when she is secretly recruited to join the UK’s growing Suffragette movement. Galvanized by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. When increasingly aggressive police action forces Maud and her dedicated fellow Suffragettes underground, they engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities, who are shocked as the women’s civil disobedience escalates and sparks debate across the nation...

Alexandre Desplat's score for Suffragette is a very subtle affair. The entire album can, if you're not paying attention to it, wash over you and end without you even realising it. In fact, of this score's 16 tracks (49 min, 15 sec) the only ones that actually stood out for me were 'Force-fed'; 'Dreaming of Equity'; 'Epsom Derby'; and 'Legacy'.

For me, Desplat's output over the years has been slightly more miss than hit. For every The Monuments Men there's a The Tree of Life to throw you off balance. Suffragette is certainly one of his better offerings and for those that enjoy mellow, subtle background movie scores, this will be a welcome addition to your collection.

7

Darren Rea