Vera Drake
Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays; Directed by Mike Leigh
In the years following World War II, the Drake family was able to settle back into a somewhat normal and routine way of life again. Mrs. Vera Drake continued a life of service; cleaning houses during the day, taking care of her elderly mother and neighbors afterwards, trying to match her timid daughter to the kindly war vet living nearby, and rushing home each day to make sure her family had a good home cooked meal to sit down to by dinnertime. Sometimes, but only once and a while, Vera would even pay a visit to the house of a woman in want and perform an abortion. But only once and a while.
When one of the girls becomes deathly ill after Vera terminates the pregnancy, her secret side job is discovered, and the world of the seemingly normal Drake family comes crashing down.
This is a very rare film in the fact that every living soul who appears on screen gives a perfect performance. One actually feels like a member of the family after a while, - you are drawn into their comfortable lives as easily as anything. The writing was very human and real. Imelda Staunton as Vera Drake definitely earned her Academy Award nomination. This film is also rare because director and writer Mike Leigh doesn’t give you the answer as to whether Vera was right or wrong to do what she was doing. The viewer is left to make that decision for themselves. We know that Vera is a kind and loving mother and wife, and that she is only "helping girls out when they need help." But when the horror overcomes her family and friends when they learn what she has done, we perhaps begin to see that she is rethinking her reasons. She is confused. She thinks she has been doing right, but has had to hide it form the rest of the world, from her family, and from the authorities. When she is eventually arrested, she is so shaken and grief-stricken that she is willing enough to fully cooperate with the police. There is no fighting or arguing, there is no fervent defending, and she doesn’t try to escape. The relationship between the mother and her two grown children after the arrest is a particularly heart-rending thing to watch unfold. The daughter is saddened and scared. The son is too confused to know how to feel or think. The father is just trying to keep his family together. He is angry, worried, and wants to have the answers for his family’s questions. But he has none. It is a film without a happy ending, but there is something in the way the family comes to a resolution that leads you to believe in the hope of a mended and forgiven life down the road for the Drake family. It satisfies the viewer, and leaves you thinking for days afterwards.
(Spoiler;) There is a twist to the story that comes when we learn that the reason Vera began performing abortions may have been because she had undergone one herself many years ago. This kind of conflict leads us to believe that perhaps Vera doesn’t necessarily believe in the morality of it completely, but rather considers it a kind of duty that needs to be done, as it was done for her.
This film did move slowly, especially towards the end. I do understand that the director was trying to give time for the emotions to sink into the actors, as well as the audience, but scenes did become a little tedious by way of the length they were allowed to run. But all in all, this is an excellent film on the subject of cultural acceptance. Just because a culture comes to slowly accept a thing, does that make it right? Then again, if one was forced to hide a belief and practice it in secret, away from the eyes of the world, does that make the belief wrong? These are questions that everyone has opinions about, and questions that I believe will be answered one day. Until then, we need to have the movies, books, and articles that keep us guessing and questioning our beliefs over and over again in order to keep us from falling into indifferent acceptance – which can be dangerous. So I am glad that we have filmmakers (whether they’re right or wrong) like Mike Leigh and even Michael Moore to keep us questioning ourselves, our leaders, and our peers. Vera Drake not only serves this purpose, but is also a first-rate story told by first-rate actors and a first-rate director.
Story = A
Acting = A
Visuals = B+
Originality = A
Enjoyability = A-
Overall Grade = A
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