Vera Drake
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alex Kelly (II), Anna Keaveney, Eddie Marsan, Imelda Staunton, Richard GrahamDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: ALL
Movie Reviews of Vera Drake
Movie Review: Great movie; Astonishing Lead Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me state this categorically: there is no finer performance by an actor this year than Imelda Staunton in Mike Leigh's VERA DRAKE. In fact, if there is any justice in the world at all she should easily win the Oscar for Best Actress. Unfortunately, there is not always justice in the world, especially when we come to Oscar time, and Hollywood often gives the award to a less deserving but locally more popular actress. But if we are focusing merely on quality of performance, Imelda Staunton this year is in a class of her own. In fact, this is not merely the finest performance this year, but one of the very best performances I have ever seen. The last time I was this impressed by a performance by an actress was, perhaps not accidentally, Brenda Blethyn in Mike Leigh's SECRETS AND LIES, a performance that won for Ms. Blethyn every acting award for which she was eligible, except for the Oscar (Frances McDormand won for her excellent but less impressive effort in FARGO).
Let me go a step further: I know of no director working today who consistently manages to coax amazing performances out of his cast. Every single one of his films are littered with amazing demonstrations of acting excellence, and this one is as remarkable in that way as any of his prior films. Except for Staunton, there is absolutely no point in singling out individuals: every actor is perfect for their part. Clearly one reason Leigh manages to get such great jobs out of his actors is the fact that he writes some remarkable screenplays. Invariably, even in a somewhat splashy production like TOPSY-TURVY, Leigh constantly keeps the focus on the individuals. Most directors attempt to do this, but almost all are too impatient to get on with the story to slow things down and give the actors room to project anything like real life emotions. Leigh's patience with scenes is one of his greatest assets, and the sheer power of this film frequently comes from his being willing to allot a scene all the time it needs. In scene after scene, I kept thinking while watching this how a lesser director would have squandered the opportunity by rushing on to the next scene.
Not only is the acting and direction in this film very close to perfect, the sets are among the most realistic one could hope to find. The film is set entirely in 1950, and absolutely nothing betrays the illusion.
Of course, little of this would matter much if there were not a story worth telling, and this one is unique. Vera Drake is a good, good-hearted woman, one who obviously radiates good will, kindness, and compassion for everyone with whom she comes in contact. The first half of the film contains countless scenes in which Vera is the spiritual glue that holds her family together, a fact that makes the final shot in the film so forceful (I'll not give away the end by explaining further). Hosts of people depend on Vera for the way she holds the social fabric of their lives together. She seems to be without a bad bone in her body. Above all, she is a helper. She helps her family, her neighbors, her mother, and girls with special problems. She is someone whom the police would call an "abortionist" (a term she adamantly rejects for the description "I help girls who need help"). Vera helps without pay poor, working class women in early first term pregnancies for whom for whatever reason bringing a child to term will be a great hardship. She does this by the injection of a lye soap solution that she injects with a rubber syringe, causing the fetus to abort a day or two later.
The film makes a contrast between the many poor women Vera helps with another abortion that an upper class girl (her father works in the Ministry of Defense), who becomes pregnant when she is raped early in the film. I think it is a credit to Leigh that he does not trivialize the class situation by making the upper class girl's pregnancy a lighthearted thing. In fact, the sheer agony the girl feels is one of the heartbreaking things in the film, the mere confession to the psychiatrist (who is necessary to recommend a legal, hospital abortion on the grounds that having the child would be psychologically dangerous) that she had been raped was gut-wrenching. The point is not that either rich or poor girls get pregnant for casual or serious reasons, but that Vera is the only recourse they have. In a home where a woman has seven children that they can barely feed as it is (these were the days before effective birth control), Vera is a bit of a savior.
Eventually, one of Vera's procedures goes wrong, and the mother of the girl hesitantly confesses to the police that Vera is the person who performed the abortion. They investigate, find out where she lives, and interrupt and engagement party to arrest Vera. Again, the strength of Leigh as a writer and director can be seen in his refusal to dehumanize the police, making them cruel villains. In fact, throughout the scenes with the police what is most impressive is how kind they are in performing their duty to the full extent. It is obvious that while they are intent on arresting an abortionist, they obviously like Vera, can sense what a good person she is.
In the end, the film identifies no villains. Vera is obviously not viewed as one. There is a condemnation of social hypocrisy that provides a service to a rich girl but not a poor one who has just as little need to bring a child to term. Perhaps a legal system that criminalizes attempts to give a woman some control over her biology. Clearly those who possess a patriarchal worldview that would prevent all voluntary ending of pregnancies will identify Vera as a villain, but even they should be able to sense the deep dilemma she feels. Those opposed to choice will sense as strongly as the police that Vera is not a monster, but one who truly is trying to help others.
Post-Oscar Addition: Though Staunton's performance was light year's beyond Hillary Swank's solid but definitely less spectacular job in MILLION DOLLAR BABY, she failed to win the Oscar, as I feared. She must take some consolation that in absolutely every article I read on "Who Ought to Win" as opposed to who probably was going to win, the critics universally agreed that Imelda Staunton's performance was clearly the finest performance of the year. No doubt many felt that her mere nomination was sufficient reward--it was not, after all, by any means a box office success, and still has not been released in many parts of the United States--but I keep fantasizing about a time when quality is recognized as quality. There is the added fact that many and perhaps even most Academy voters didn't even see VERA DRAKE. When they finally do, I'm sure there will be some embarrassment that they voted for Hillary Swank's very good but not truly great performance instead of this absolutely heart stopping one.
Summary of Vera Drake
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 FetzerSimilar DVD Movies
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