Vera Drake
Encyclopedia
Vera Drake is a 2004 British drama film
written and directed by Mike Leigh
, telling the story of a working-class woman in London
in 1950 who performs illegal abortions. It won the Golden Lion
at the Venice Film Festival
and it was nominated for three Academy Awards
and won three BAFTAs.
) is devoted to her family, looking after her husband and children, her elderly mother, and a sick neighbour. Her shy daughter, Ethel (Alex Kelly), works in a lightbulb factory, and son, Sid (Daniel Mays
), tailors men's suits. Her husband, Stanley (Phil Davis), is a car mechanic. Although Vera and her family are poor, their strong family bonds hold them together, and we see Vera's constant small acts of kindness to the many people she encounters throughout her day. Vera works as a house cleaner. However, unbeknownst to her family, she also serves as a backroom abortion
ist. She receives no money for this, believing her help to be an act of charity. However, Lily (Ruth Sheen
), who also carries on a black-market trade in scarce postwar foodstuffs, charges two guinea
s (two pounds and two shillings: equivalent to £48 in 2005) for arranging the abortions, without Vera's knowledge.
The film also contains a subplot about an upper class young woman, Susan (Sally Hawkins
), the daughter of one of Vera's employers. Susan is raped by a suitor, becomes pregnant, and asks a friend to put her in contact with a doctor, through whom she can obtain an abortion. The doctor first refers her to a psychiatrist, who prompts her to answer questions in a certain way, so that he can recommend an abortion on legal grounds: that she has a family history of mental illness
and that she may commit suicide if not allowed to terminate the pregnancy. The abortion costs her a hundred guineas.
After one of her patients nearly dies, Vera is arrested by the police and taken into custody for questioning. She is held overnight and appears before a magistrate the next morning. Sid is shocked by his mother's secret activities and tells his father that he does not think that he can forgive her.
Vera is bailed to appear at the Old Bailey
. None of Vera's employers will give her a character reference
. Her solicitor thinks she will receive the minimum sentence of 18 months in jail; the judge sentences her to two and a half years imprisonment. This affects all the people who previously depended on Vera's kindness.
, and experienced a very ordinary but socio-economically mixed life as the son of a doctor and a midwife. In the book The Cinema of Mike Leigh: A Sense of the Real, Leigh said, "I lived in this particular kind of working-class district with some relations living in slightly leafier districts up the road. So there was always a tension, or at least a duality: those two worlds were forever colliding. So you constantly get the one world and its relationship with the other going on in my films".
explains:
Leigh often uses improvisation in order to capture his actors' unscripted emotions. When filming Vera Drake, only Imelda Staunton knew ahead of time that the subject of the film was abortion. None of the cast members playing the family members, including Staunton, knew that Vera was to be arrested until the moment the actors playing the police knocked on the door of the house they were using for rehearsals. Their genuine reactions of shock and confusion provided the raw material for their dialogue and actions.
In addition to these methods utilized by Mike Leigh, the director is also admired for his preference of British actors to Hollywood stars. This has led to Leigh's criticism, as being "a patroniser of the working class." . However, using Dickens in his defense, he rebuts these accusations outright proclaiming that the last thing he seeks in his actors is, "a stereotype." Criticism of this stereotype was fulminated to the greatest extent by the film, Vera Drake.:
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, telling the story of a working-class woman in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1950 who performs illegal abortions. It won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
and it was nominated for three Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
and won three BAFTAs.
Plot
Vera Drake (Imelda StauntonImelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
) is devoted to her family, looking after her husband and children, her elderly mother, and a sick neighbour. Her shy daughter, Ethel (Alex Kelly), works in a lightbulb factory, and son, Sid (Daniel Mays
Daniel Mays
-Early life:One of four boys, Mays was raised in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts before going on to win a place at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
), tailors men's suits. Her husband, Stanley (Phil Davis), is a car mechanic. Although Vera and her family are poor, their strong family bonds hold them together, and we see Vera's constant small acts of kindness to the many people she encounters throughout her day. Vera works as a house cleaner. However, unbeknownst to her family, she also serves as a backroom abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
ist. She receives no money for this, believing her help to be an act of charity. However, Lily (Ruth Sheen
Ruth Sheen
Ruth Sheen is an English actress.Born in London, Sheen began her career by training at the East 15 Acting School, and has appeared regularly on British television and in British films since 1988. On television, she had recurring roles as Nanny Simmons in Berkeley Square , and as Nurse Ethel Carr...
), who also carries on a black-market trade in scarce postwar foodstuffs, charges two guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
s (two pounds and two shillings: equivalent to £48 in 2005) for arranging the abortions, without Vera's knowledge.
The film also contains a subplot about an upper class young woman, Susan (Sally Hawkins
Sally Hawkins
Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...
), the daughter of one of Vera's employers. Susan is raped by a suitor, becomes pregnant, and asks a friend to put her in contact with a doctor, through whom she can obtain an abortion. The doctor first refers her to a psychiatrist, who prompts her to answer questions in a certain way, so that he can recommend an abortion on legal grounds: that she has a family history of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and that she may commit suicide if not allowed to terminate the pregnancy. The abortion costs her a hundred guineas.
After one of her patients nearly dies, Vera is arrested by the police and taken into custody for questioning. She is held overnight and appears before a magistrate the next morning. Sid is shocked by his mother's secret activities and tells his father that he does not think that he can forgive her.
Vera is bailed to appear at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
. None of Vera's employers will give her a character reference
Character evidence
Character evidence is a term used in the law of evidence to describe any testimony or document submitted for the purpose of proving that a person acted in a particular way on a particular occasion based on the character or disposition of that person...
. Her solicitor thinks she will receive the minimum sentence of 18 months in jail; the judge sentences her to two and a half years imprisonment. This affects all the people who previously depended on Vera's kindness.
Cast
- Imelda StauntonImelda StauntonImelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
as Vera Drake - Richard GrahamRichard Graham (actor)Richard Graham is an actor. He is mostly known for his roles opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic and Gangs Of New York , as well as playing Trevor in the football hooligan film I.D. .He has appeared in many television series, including all 12 episodes of Maisie Raine as D.S...
as George - Eddie MarsanEddie MarsanEdward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...
as Reg - Anna KeaveneyAnna KeaveneyAnna Keaveney was an English actress best known for her role as Marie Jackson in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside....
as Nellie - Sally HawkinsSally HawkinsSally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...
as Susan - Alex Kelly as Ethel Drake
- Daniel MaysDaniel Mays-Early life:One of four boys, Mays was raised in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts before going on to win a place at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
as Sid Drake - Phil Davis as Stanley Drake
- Sam TroughtonSam TroughtonSam Troughton is a British actor. He is the son of David Troughton and the grandson of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton. His younger brother is Warwickshire cricketer Jim Troughton...
as David - Ruth SheenRuth SheenRuth Sheen is an English actress.Born in London, Sheen began her career by training at the East 15 Acting School, and has appeared regularly on British television and in British films since 1988. On television, she had recurring roles as Nanny Simmons in Berkeley Square , and as Nurse Ethel Carr...
as Lily - Adrian ScarboroughAdrian ScarboroughAdrian Philip Scarborough is an English character actor and won an Olivier award for best actor in a supporting role in 2011.Scarborough was born in Melton Mowbray, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, winning the Chesterton Award for Best Actor.In 1993, he was nominated for the Ian...
as Frank - Lesley ManvilleLesley ManvilleLesley Manville is an award-winning English actress.-Early life:Born in Brighton, Manville was raised in Hove, East Sussex, one of three daughters of a taxicab driver. Training as a soprano singer from age 8, she twice became under-18 champion of Sussex...
as Mrs. Wells - Marion BaileyMarion BaileyMarion Bailey is a British actress. Born in Bushey, Hertfordshire to parents William Henry and Rose Bailey. She is probably best known for her appearances in the Mike Leigh films Meantime, All or Nothing and Vera Drake, as well as Leigh's 1981 West End theatre play Goosepimples, for which she...
as Mrs. Fowler - Lesley SharpLesley SharpLesley Sharp is an English stage, film and television actress, particularly well known for her variety of British television roles including Clocking Off, Bob & Rose and afterlife.-Early life:...
as Jessie Barnes - Peter Wight as Det. Inspector Webster
- Martin SavageMartin Savage (actor)Martin Savage is a British film, stage and television actor.He appeared in both seasons of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's television series Extras as camp scriptwriter Damon Beesley and in The Thick of It television series specials as Nick Hanway...
as Det. Sergeant Vickers - Leo BillLeo BillLeo Bill is an English actor, best known for his role as James Brocklebank in 2006 film The Living and the Dead. He is son of the actress Sheila Kelley.-Filmography:-Theatre:...
as Ronny - Sinéad MatthewsSinead MatthewsSinead Matthews is an English actress.She was born in Coventry. She attended Coventry's Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School and Language College, and studied A-level Drama at Stratford Upon Avon College between 1996 and 1998. She graduated from RADA in 2003, and made her television debut in the 2004...
as Young Woman - Chris O'DowdChris O'DowdChris O'Dowd is an Irish comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Roy Trenneman in British sitcom The IT Crowd...
as Sid's Customer - Allan CordunerAllan CordunerAllan Corduner is an English actor.-Early life:Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in North London with his mother, father and a younger brother. His mother had escaped to England from Nazi Germany with her family in 1938...
as Psychiatrist - Jim BroadbentJim BroadbentJames "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
as Judge
Background
In Vera Drake, Leigh incorporated elements of his own childhood. He grew up in north Salford, LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and experienced a very ordinary but socio-economically mixed life as the son of a doctor and a midwife. In the book The Cinema of Mike Leigh: A Sense of the Real, Leigh said, "I lived in this particular kind of working-class district with some relations living in slightly leafier districts up the road. So there was always a tension, or at least a duality: those two worlds were forever colliding. So you constantly get the one world and its relationship with the other going on in my films".
Production
Mike Leigh is known to use unusual methods to achieve realism in his films. "Leigh’s actors literally have to find their characters through improvisation and research the ways people in specific communities speak and behave. Leigh and his cast immerse themselves in the local life before creating the story" (1994: 7: Watson 29). Critic Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
explains:
Leigh often uses improvisation in order to capture his actors' unscripted emotions. When filming Vera Drake, only Imelda Staunton knew ahead of time that the subject of the film was abortion. None of the cast members playing the family members, including Staunton, knew that Vera was to be arrested until the moment the actors playing the police knocked on the door of the house they were using for rehearsals. Their genuine reactions of shock and confusion provided the raw material for their dialogue and actions.
In addition to these methods utilized by Mike Leigh, the director is also admired for his preference of British actors to Hollywood stars. This has led to Leigh's criticism, as being "a patroniser of the working class." . However, using Dickens in his defense, he rebuts these accusations outright proclaiming that the last thing he seeks in his actors is, "a stereotype." Criticism of this stereotype was fulminated to the greatest extent by the film, Vera Drake.:
These abiding quibbles aside, Vera Drake is a compelling and complex film. Though much has been made of the the controversial subject matter - back street abortion - its main theme is the buried family secret, the ticking time bomb that can lurk underneath even the most stable marriage. Much of the film's cumulative power lies in its delineation of a rock solid family suddenly rocked to the core by a revelation that is literally beyond their comprehension: the fact that their beloved, and loving, mother is an abortionist. Why, I ask Leigh, does she keep her secret for so long?.
Responses
The film was a critical success. The website MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which compiles and averages reviews from leading film critics, gave it a score of 83 out of 100. Review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports the film as holding an overall 92% approval rating based on 155 reviews, with a rating average of 7.9 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that, "with a piercingly powerful performance by Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake brings teeming humanity to the controversial subject of abortion."
As of 9 April 2006, Vera Drake had grossed $12,941,817 at the box office worldwide, including over $3.7 million in the U.S.
The film has attracted some criticism from those who worked in midwiferyMidwiferyMidwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
during the 1950s. The chief concern is the method of abortionAbortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
used by Vera Drake in the film. This involves using a Higginson bulb syringeSyringeA syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...
filled with a solution of warm, soapy water and disinfectant, which is inserted into the woman's uterusUterusThe uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
. This method is claimed by Jennifer Worth, a nurse and midwife in the 1950s and 1960s, to be invariably fatal. She calls the film itself "dangerous", as it could be shown in countries where abortion is illegal and the method depicted copied by desperate women.
Awards and nominations
- 2004 European Film Awards - won Best Actress and nominated for Best Film
- 2004 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
- won Golden LionGolden LionIl Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
for Best Film & Volpi Cup for Best Actress- 2005 Golden Globes - nominated for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...- 2004 Academy Awards
Academy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- nominated for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, Best DirectorAcademy Award for DirectingThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Original Screenplay- 2004 Camerimage
CamerimageThe International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE is a festival dedicated to cinematography and its creators cinematographers.The first seven events were held in Toruń, Poland. The next ten events were held in Łódź...
- won Golden Frog for best cinematography (Dick Pope)- 2005 BAFTAs
British Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
- won Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role and Costume Design (for Jacqueline DurranJacqueline DurranJacqueline Durran is a British costume designer. She won the BAFTA award for Vera Drake. She received considerable attention for her work in Pride & Prejudice , for which she received an Oscar nomination and won a Satellite Award...
). Nominated for Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best British Film.
External links