Vera Drake (2004)

One observation: When the police arrive at the home of Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) to confront her about the allegation that she has been conducting illegal abortions, she and her family are celebrating her daughter's engagement. When the cops enter the room, the camera freezes on Vera's face. Over the course of about 45 seconds in which she doesn't say a word, Staunton's face registers every possible emotion: Joy, confusion, concern, fear, disgust, anger, guilt. It's heart-racing just to watch, and it's what acting -- great acting at least -- is all about. Staunton's is the one female performance of the year not to miss. (On the men's side, check out Morgan Freeman in MILLION DOLLAR BABY.)

Fmovies: I don't think I need to fear rolling pins being thrown in my general direction when I say that powerful women roles are few and far between in Moviedom. That is not to say that there aren't any, it's just that it is rare for a female performance to blow you away in any projector driven screening. This is due more to Hollywood's reluctance to create interesting and powerful roles for the female elite than the actresses' ability themselves. Where studio honchos salivate over the next Jack Nicholson powerhouse or Anthony Hopkins costume drama, there are far far too few Charlize Theron's Monster to counter.

However, leave it up to Mike Leigh to try and correct this trend. In 1996, he wrote and directed the wonderful Secrets & Lies, and his writing for the women leads was so strong, that the Academy awarded nominations for both Best Actress (Brenda Blethyn) and Supporting Actress (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). Now in 2004, Leigh has given us the strongest performance by a male or female of the year with Imelda Staunton as the title character in the new film Vera Drake.

Vera Drake is the story a family in 1950's London. Vera is the Motherhead and she is the jack-of-all-trades within the community. Her days are spend stopping in on elderly people to help them with their lunch, working a various estates as a cleaning lady, slaving at a light bulb producing factory and most notably, as a caring individual who helps young and poor women terminate unwanted pregnancies.

However, if you were to ask Vera Drake what her role was, she would probably admit to being a mother first – a caregiver to her husband and two children.

A selfless woman who has little time for herself and therefore little time to digest the consequences of her illegal actions. Vera is goes about every bit of her business, whether she is down on her knees cleaning the brass around a fireplace or helping a woman perform an abortion without a frown and usually with a smile on her face, a whistling tune on her lips and the kettle on the stove.

Vera's family are equally lovable individuals. Her husband, Geroge (Phil Davis) works with his brother at an automobile repair shop. Her son Sid works as the local tailor and her daughter is a soft spoken lass who falls for a local man Vera invites over to dinner as a kind gesture. Together they make the quintessential family unit that we all envisioned 1950's households to encompass.

But when a local girl has a bad reaction to a Drake endorsed abortion, their world is turned on end. An investigation by the local police lead them to Vera's door on the night of celebration due to her daughters engagement. And as the police take Vera to the local booking station for a statement and sentencing, Imelda Staunton does her best work through the tears and expressions mirroring the suffering at the anguish she has put her family through.

Vera Drake might just be the best picture to be viewed by this critic this year. The characters are so robust and real that every time Vera put the kettle on for a cup of tea, you would think she is doing it for everyone in the audience. We become captivated by their lives and interested in the effects the events have on the family unit. The writing is crisp and you can imagine these people saying these things to one another – a gift not often bestowed upon moviegoers in such a powerful form.

Director Mike Leigh deserves most of the credit. He transforms Vera in front of us and manages to take an illegal

Mike Leigh has done it again. I adore "Secrets and Lies", my 2nd favorite film of all time and Leigh strikes gold again in the emotionally draining, brilliantly directed study of a 50's era abortionist in London. Imelda Staunton gives, yet another in Leigh's film, outstandingly powerful and true performance as Vera Drake. She a inner-city housewife and mother, who spends much of her free time trying to "help out" the poor ladies of 50's London who are unable to get legal abortions. Some may consider this a hot-topic issue film, but it's moreover an independent study of a woman and her life, and how her emotions play in her world. Every nuance of this film is perfectly crafted, from every performance, to the sets, and the cinematography. The emotions overflow steadily, especially after the traumatic dinner scene where the police arrive for Vera. The look of horror that Staunton displays and changes as she realizes what is happening is acting and direction at it's best. Why is it American films aren't able to capture this from it's performers? I can't praise this film enough and truly believe that this will be my favorite film of the year. It's a shame this film got only a small release and audiences seemed unmoved by it. I don't understand it. Hopefully DVD will allow those who missed it to catch up with it and relish in it's brilliance. It will be a rewarding experience for all to see. I am praying for Oscar noms all around, but especially for Staunton. It is clearly and without any doubt, the best female performance as of this date, this year.

Vera Drake fmovies. "Vera Drake" is one of those movies that takes you right in and does not release you until long after the movie is over. Come to think of it, most of Mike Leigh's movies have this effect.

Imelda Staunton is flawless as Vera Drake, a kind-hearted simple soul who believes in sharing the compassion and the caring for her own family with others. Part of this compassion is exemplified in a skill she has - she is a back street abortionist. She does not do it for financial gain, but out of sympathy for the helpless women who cannot afford the psychiatric evaluations given to the rich who are then sent to private nursing homes for the procedures.

Through a series of circumstances she is caught and convicted and we observe the effects on her family and those about her.

Everything is flawless about this film. We really are in the cramped little flat where Vera lives, in the near slum environment. Her cheerful domestic work in the wealthy homes of London is in stark contrast to the poverty of her own post war rationed existence.

This film and the actors have to be nominated for many Oscars. Mike Leigh you have done it again. Bravo! 9 out of 10.

I have been a longtime fan of Mike Leigh, always fascinated to see his slice of life take on England. Because of his well known creative process, the intrigue would be to see the actors and the characters and dramas (and comedies) they created. They were always worth watching in a voyeuristic way due to Leigh's unobtrusive camera work.

Vera Drake is well worth seeing for these same reasons, but Leigh has made a bigger and better movie than ever before, even with all of Topsy Turvy's bombast. His ambitions as director are greater than ever. First of all, to take on the subject of abortion is very brave. But I'll leave that for others to discuss. What was of interest to me from the opening shot was that this was going to be a visual tour de force, and it was.

Painting the scenes in dark, crushing browns and greens, with tight camera angles or letting the light in, each scene had the feel of a well thought out canvas, even the cut aways between scenes were new, inventive and beautiful.

And the acting is great and the scenes of the family interacting in close quarters, moving in synch are so pitch perfect you feel they have been doing this for decades.

So if you're thinking of seeing this movie, sit back, relax, and prepare to be taken on a slow, masterful ride.

Along with Abbas Kiarostami, Mike Leigh must be the finest film artist now living. He sets up the story here very smartly; it's Altmanesque the way that the lives intertwine. And like Altman, the film has an observational style (the camera sits still as people walk about the house), though without his cynical humor. (There is one comic relief character, however, who Vera's son measures for tailoring.) The story is craftily put-together -- Leigh, for all his realism, isn't above cinema: he's not against creating a scene. His entire movie is a build-up to individual looks and faces; one especially fine scene is laid out incredibly well: we see a car pull up outside; inside, we get the news that someone is going to have a baby; then a knock at the door... What sets him apart from many so-called realists is that he's not an inept moviemaker. Even though a number of the scenes are complete of themselves and incredibly well-wrought, none of them are "scenes"; the only hint of cinematic flair that Leigh indulges in are the recurring motifs of heavenly music. The film is not traditional realism in terms of acting, either -- the actors all have a very distinct look that has to do with the way they're shot, but each character, each actor, seems alive in such a way that isn't theatrical or exaggerated or false, but still animated. There is an unflinching dedication to emotional consistency and detail (such as the mechanics of the abortions), but it always remains humane (without ever turning sentimental); when one woman is raped, Leigh doesn't linger on the scene, he doesn't really even show anything.

Leigh makes few political points in the film. (No doubt conservatives would see the film as a horror story, this woman creeping around from house to house.) It is not an "issue" movie. It is much more about families and people, and how they support one of their own; it could just as easily about someone accused of child molestation, or who assisted suicides. The miracle of the film is that the catalyst for the emotional breakdown, the abortions, aren't just a device, they're a whole, complete film in their own right. It's what gives certain images such immediate, painful power. His film, planned as it is, consists of events that are completely random and unforeseeable to the characters, even though we, the audience expect them (it only serves to make them more devastating that we see it coming). We see an abortion; we see a couple get engaged; we see a rape; we see that someone is expecting a baby. Leigh has empathy for everyone in the film, and with the exception of three women -- Vera's sister in law, the woman who procures Vera's "patients," and the mother of one of the girls who she performs an abortion for -- he doesn't turn anyone into a villain. Even one horrific psychiatrist interview grows into something where we realize, haughty as he is, he's not exactly "out to get" this girl who wants help (although the scene hits home the difference involved in getting abortions performed by doctors and on the street).

Sometimes the film is a little too obvious, as when Vera's son can't deal with what she's done, effectively sticking the knife in her (and us). And you could complain that Staunton, in the second half, is ordered to put on a blank face, as if she's had a stroke. But it's a simple view to see her as a smiling happy person in the first part and then a wrecked creature in the second -- there is alw