Vera Drake (2004)

The brilliant writer-director Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy, Secrets and Lies, Naked) has crafted an utterly compelling movie about one of the most controversial of topics. An irrepressibly hopeful housecleaner in 1950s London named Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, Antonia and Jane, Shakespeare in Love) mothers everyone around her, from her own family to helpless shut-ins and lonely men living in tiny, isolated apartments. None of these people know that Vera also helps young women get rid of unwanted pregnancies, until the police appear and tear her world apart. Vera Drake isn't just an inspired character portrait; through simple and straightforward scenes, the movie weaves a quiet but mesmerizing portrait of how people--both wealthy and poor--cope with adversity. Though wrenching, Vera Drake has too much life to be depressing. Leigh is deservedly famous for his work with actors; every character brims with truth and Staunton's performance deserves every award it could possibly win. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Good

Vera Drake was a highly praised 2004 film, written and directed by Mike Leigh, that detailed the cruelties and hypocrisies of England's anti-abortion laws back in post-World War Two 1950. It won the Best Film Award at the Venice Film Festival and from the British Independent Film Awards, and deservedly so. Yet, despite its `large' backdrop, the film is one of the most intimate character studies ever put to celluloid. Drake (Imelda Staunton) is an aging London housewife, with a husband, Stan (Phil Davis), and two grown children, Ethel and Sid (Alex Kelly and Daniel Mays), who goes out of her way to help girls who are pregnant have homemade abortions. She charges no money for her services, and is sent on the sly, by acquaintances who do charge money to be recommended to her, although Drake does not know this. She is a prim lady who calls and holds everyone and everything `dear'.... This film holds some truck with Alfred Hitchcock's films that focused on wrongly accused men, most notably his The Wrong Man, with Henry Fonda, but this film ends on a lighter touch. Life goes on, and, in a few years, Vera Drake will be free, yet there will have been far less scrupulous characters who will have taken her place. Laws against abortion ALWAYS target the poor, not the rich, and then society condemns the poor for having `too many kids', even as it denies them the means to not have those despised `bastards'. September 23, 2008

Neither pro or con abortion, the film leaves the final judgement to the viewer

This is a carefully crafted film that captures well the struggles of the working class, the division of class in English society, social control of society, and the strength of the social and family networks that allow poor working folks to survive in the face of adversity. These complex themes are explored through a straight forward, non-complicated narrative that is enhanced with outstanding performances by the entire cast. Thefilm is neither pro-abortion or con-abortion. It offers a realistic view of the process and the players and leaves judgement to the viewer.

The compelling story and main character, Vera, keep you engaged. Vera is a cheerful, giving, warm, compassionate, loving person who is the keystone of her family and social network. Phil Davis plays her husband Stan and his performance is also of the highest level. This hardworking and honest housekeeper performs abortions for poor girls for free, seeing her actions as helpful.

The film is certainly more about social class and privilege as much as it is about illegal abortions. We see both poor and rich girls becoming pregnant and we see wealthy girls using the established medical community to assist them with an unwanted pregnancy whereas we see poor girls faced with fewer options. Likewise we see society physicians willing to perform an abortion if a rich girl happens to have suicide in the family and mentions that she is so stressed that she is thinking about suicide. The physicians are protected but the poor abortionist working to help poor girls in trouble faces considerable punishment.

Yet, the film is carefully made and the rich pregnant girl in the story evokes as much sympathy as do the pregnant poor girls in the story. They are all victims of a social structure that punishes the female if she is pregnant but is not concerned with the father of the child, be he a rich or poor man.

The police act as agents of social control in the film and yet they were highly personal and sympathetic characters. The humanity of the chief detective shone through and it was obvious that this man tries to do his duty within the confines of the law yet feels compassion for those caught in the criminal justice legal system.

So if sexism, classism are oppressive social structures, how to the poor women survive? This film would indicate that strong families and strong social networks are key to survival. We are introduced to no less than 23 characters in the first 30 minutes of the film and yet we quickly see how they are structured in the larger social network.

Vera is a vital part of her family and social network and yet when she gets into trouble, the social network first reacts with shock but then rebounds and offers the emotional and fiscal support needed to overcome the current crisis.

This is a thoughtful film. Each character is complex and well developed. There is a strong sense of justice as a human developed and delivered process. The court system seemed to impart justice, for Vera was indeed an abortionist, no matter how much you feel for this loving motherly little lady. No characters were stereotypes or cartoons. Even the arresting police are seen as part of the social fabric in which they play a role in the most humane manner possible. After you see the film I suspect you will reflect on how well conceptualized, written, directed and performed was this dramatic presentation. Imelda Staunton's dramatic skills are immense, as were all the actors. In an odd way, this film about abortion makes you feel better about the human condition, primarily because when the forces of justice prevail, it is our common humanity and those that love us that allow us to absorb the punishment and move on.


June 24, 2008

Powerful

I came into this one expecting a lot because writer/director Mike Leigh is also the writer/director of SECRETS AND LIES. I was not disappointed.

It's a very different film. It has some very humorous parts, but mostly it's dark and dramatic. Very sharp writing, excellent characterization, an author who can look at all sides of an issue and keep the viewer interested throughout, and a fine "period piece" set in 1950 or thereabouts that captures a time quite well. A little slow, as one reviewer mentioned, but I don't think that's a bad thing in this case. I chalk it up to mood.

So, as you can guess by the five stars, which I rarely give out, I'm quite impressed. In fact, I'm about to go hunting for some more Mike Leigh films. This guy's really impressing me. June 22, 2008

A Superb Staunton But the Desultory Tone Wears Thin

Nobody captures working class England and its socially reticent inhabitants better than director/screenwriter Mike Leigh does. He brings a deeply felt authenticity to post-WWII London in the set-up of his rather controversial story, and one needs to give credit to Leigh for not turning the film into a polemic about abortion. At the same time though, the 2004 movie clocks in at over two hours, and its unrelenting bleakness has a wearing effect especially since Leigh takes a decidedly episodic approach to his story. The title character is a simple, frumpy woman, so kind-hearted that she thinks nothing of tending to those she sees as less fortunate, whether it is her mother, her invalid neighbor or the parade of mainly young girls who find themselves with unwanted pregnancies. Vera sees no distinction when it comes to helping these people selflessly, and to her immediate family, especially her loving husband, she is nothing less than a saint beyond reproach.

Leigh takes his time in establishing this fact, too much time really, and pacing is part of the movie's problem. It appears that he is intent on showing how matter-of-fact her illegal abortion practice is compared to her everyday activities with her family. To some degree, the juxtaposition of scenes maximizes the later drama of consequences and ramifications, but the results are uneven because there is nothing remotely surprising about what happens to her. The second half of the movie develops a compelling emotionalism thanks to a stunning turn by Imelda Staunton. Until the moment she is arrested, Vera seems almost like a British version of Betty White's character on The Golden Girls, all apple-cheeked optimism offering a cup of tea to soothe everyone's worries. However, when Vera realizes what is happening to her, Staunton effectively uses an expression of glazed shock followed by an implosion of endless crying jags to illuminate the inner turmoil of her character. For the most part, it's an economical performance, and yet thanks to Staunton, one never questions the sheer anguish her character is experiencing.

The other actors are quite good, in particular, Phil Davis as her unsuspecting mechanic husband Stan; Daniel Mays as her enterprising son Sid, a men's store salesman; Peter Wight as the guardedly sympathetic inspector; and as two unlikely lovebirds, Alex Kelly as her hopelessly lumpish daughter Ethel and Eddie Marsan as the schlubby bachelor upstairs. In fact, his proposal scene to Ethel is a charming moment in their fumbling realization of their need for each other. Another keenly observed scene is one in which Sid deftly massages a middle-class customer's heartfelt desire to look like a swell at an important function. These are the moments in the movie that feel the most truthful, and Leigh excels at directing such scenes without pretension. Leigh wants to exalt the heroism of abortion providers during an era of extreme repression, and he makes sure to be true to the psychology of the working class at that time. Consequently, it is compelling how he keeps Vera inarticulate during the most dramatic moments, even when she's being interrogated and realizes a prison sentence is at hand.

The aim of the film is sound, but what I don't appreciate much is how Leigh uses certain characters simply to move the plot along only to drop them later, for instance, the character of Susan and her plight are introduced simply as a counterpoint to Vera's method, showing how the rich took care of their abortions. There is the revelation that Vera's friend selfishly pocketed money from the pregnant girls all those years, and we are robbed of a confrontation scene that should have occurred between her and Vera about it. One could watch the movie to savor the acting, but truth be told, the film is probably about half an hour too long, as one scene after another signals the end of this desultory story. Despite Staunton's stellar performance, I have to admit I felt relieved when it was all over. The only extra features on the 2005 DVD are the original trailer and a behind-the-scenes documentary featuring snippets of interviews with Leigh, Staunton, Davis, Mays and cinematographer Dick Pope. April 6, 2008

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It's difficult for me to go into specifics with regard to what I found so horrible about this film because my mind apparently went into some type of state-of-shock-survival mode, I guess like what happens during any sort of severe abuse, and all that register in my memory was the fact that it was entirely unpleasant. If you are into really slow, overly dramatic, storylines that have been ran into the ground,or feminist-hero-over-body-rights issue (etc) movies about people uplifted for being humble and simple, well, you'll have a good time, or consider scheduling a visit to your dentist. February 13, 2008

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