Review of Vera Drake (2004) by Ursula R — 05 Sep 2009

This film doesn't necessarily take a stance on the controversial topic of abortion but it rather examines how black-and-white the law can really be. It's not a message film, it's a character portrait of a kind-hearted women.

The first half of the film takes us through the everyday life of Vera, showing us how caring she is, attempting to brighten up various people's days, cleaning households affectionately and politely and, yes, performing abortions for young girls, which she also does in the same, maternal and caring manner.

We are also exposed to Vera's family, who are all portrayed as equally rich and interesting as Vera. The film then takes a turn into an emotionally intense drama through a crushing, heart-breaking scene in which the police enter Vera's home and she admits the illegal acts she had been carrying out.

She is completely shattered as a person, feeling the unjust effect of punishment for doing what she views as "helping". The reality sinks in that Vera will be imprisoned, and family and friends all have different viewpoints, highlighting their characters in heavy, powerful scenes debating narrow-mindedness vs.

compassion, pride vs. obligation, etc. Every single performance is flawless, and each character is portrayed with humanity, even the police, lawyers and the judge persecuting Vera are driven realistically by their duty to the law.

The result is a unique, heart-wrenching, profound drama that doesn't feed it's audience anything. It simply says that nothing can be set in stone.