Vera Drake
by Mike Leigh
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Eddie Marsan, Heather Craney, Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent, Richard GrahamDirector: Mike Leigh
Brand: Generic
Writer: Mike Leigh
Producer: Alain Sarde
Producer: Christine Gozlan
Producer: Duncan Reid
Producer: Gail Egan
Producer: Georgina Lowe
Producer: Robert Jones
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of Vera Drake
Movie Review: Imelda Staunton's memorable performance as "Vera Drake"
Summary: 5 Stars
The contest for this year's Best Actress Oscar was supposedly between Hilary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby" and Annette Bening in "Being Julia," not just because the two won the Golden Globe Awards for their performances but also because a few years back Swank won for "Boy's Don't Cry" over Bening in "American Beauty." But I think the two most captivating performances from the movies of the past year were Catalina Sandino Moreno's unforgettable debut in "Maria Full of Grace" and Imelda Staunton's total embodiment of the title character in "Vera Drake."
Vera Drake is a perpetually pleasant woman who apparently cannot stop herself from helping people or from calling them "dear," even in circumstances where it is clearly not called for. Vera works as a cleaning woman in the house of a rich family and then she comes home to care for not only her family but on invalids in the neighborhood. When she offers to do something for somebody and says that it is not a bother, she really means it. At one point she has to assure someone this is indeed the case, and you have to wonder how anybody in the neighborhood would not know that about Vera. But then there are very few people in the neighborhood who knows that when a young girl gets in trouble, she can come to Vera Drake and have an abortion.
Writer-director Mike Leigh's film is set in London after the war, when things were still being rationed and the black market was still in effect. Lily (Ruth Sheen), the woman from whom Vera gets black market sugar is the same person who will slip her the name of a woman who needs "help." Vera does not know that Lily charges these women for this service, but then Vera helps out these young women because "they got no one to turn to," and not for profit. Vera would not charge them any more than she does for the other services that they do. The young women who come to her represent the spectrum of reasons, from rape to convenience, but Vera offers neither judgment nor counseling. She simply provides her help until she is caught.
Vera is surrounded by her entire family having dinner when the police come to her flat and the look on her face makes it clear that she knows her world is about to be destroyed, even if she does not understand the reasons or the process. The close up of her face as Vera has this moment of realization is the most unforgettable image in the scene and Staunton's performance changes accordingly as her character is undone. What follows is a most unusual interrogation session at the police station as the Detective Inspector (Peter Wight) who questions Vera comes to realize there is more to this case than meets the eyes. But once Vera is brought before a court it is clear that the letter of the law makes no allowances someone like her. Even when we meet others like Vera, it remains painfully obvious that she is unique.
In many ways "Vera Drake" is a fitting counterpart to the film version of "The Cider House Rules," inasmuch as it provides more of a sense of the debate on the subject of abortion that was excised from John Irving's novel. As I read it the point of "The Cider House Rules" was that saying you were opposed to abortion on moral grounds was immoral if you refused to do anything about the women who find themselves in this position and that society had to deal with the larger picture. Abortion was a crime in England until 1967 (unless you had 100 pounds) and the other key moment of realization in "Vera Drake" is when the copper who is interviewing her comes to understand that the woman before him is not going to fit the idea he has in his head of an abortionist. She is the absolute flip side of the horrific image of the back alley abortionist and it almost seems as if they simply reversed that stereotype to create the character of Vera. In contrast to Vera is the doctor who is willing to perform the same illegal service for about fifty times the amount Lily charges. Vera Drake is a criminal, but she is not a hypocrite.
Of course the shortcoming in the film is that is does not address what a society can do to eliminate or at least reduce abortions, a pragmatic question that is separate from the issue of making abortions illegal again. The point of "Vera Drake" is that there was a time when people were not talking about this subject in England and the excuse that it was not fit for polite conversation is a poor excuse for ignoring the problem. Those family and friends who abandon Vera do so more out of a sense of mortification of being associated with her in the eyes of the public than from feelings of moral outrage, albeit with one key exception. Hating abortions but loving the abortionist is never an easy task and this is especially true when she turns out to be a member of your own family.
Summary of Vera Drake
Wife. Mother. Criminal.ProductInformationIn Vera Drake Imelda Staunton gives an award-winning performance asthe title character a devoted wife and mother in 1950s England. Unbeknownst to her family Vera secretly helps womenterminate unwanted pregnancies. When she is arrested herentire world unravels leading to a very dramatic emotional conclusion.Specifications Stars: Imelda Staunton JimBroadbent Heather Craney Format: Color DVD Language: English Subtitles: English Spanish Rating: R Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 125 minutes Directed By: Mike LeighThe 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
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