Review of Vera Drake (2004) by Scott S — 10 Dec 2004

The real accomplishment of Vera Drake is how it humanizes the issue of abortion rights, placing it in a particular social millieu and focusing on the motivations of one woman striving to provide help to women who can find it no where else.

Set in 1950 London, the movie shows mostly good-hearted, well-meaning people, warts and all, enjoying life as it comes to them and struggling with problems they face. No characters are villians, none are heroes.

Even the police officers who enforce a law that, for all intents and purposes, seems outdated and blatently unfair, are portrayed as compassionate individuals, simply carrying out the charge they've been given by society.

This is a movie that explores the gray areas, the shadows of our souls. Vera's story is less about whether abortion is right or wrong (no judgment is rendered there) than it is about the real question of abortion rights - giving poor women the same access to safe medical procedures as privileged women have.

At a time in U.S. history when that access is being challenged, this movie is both a history lesson on past inequalities and a warning sign about what could happen if a woman's right to choose is taken away from her.