Review of Vera Drake (2004) by Elliot D — 02 Jun 2011

Mike Leigh is in top form here, in this powerful story of Vera Drake, a middle-aged woman with a heart of gold. Vera works as a housemaid to several upper class families, has two adult children, has a happy marriage, and regularly visits invalids and older people.

She also performs the occasional abortion. Vera doesn't see it as a crime, of course--she is merely "helping young girls out when they got no place to go." When Vera is arrested after a botched operation, her entire world is turned upside down; her family has no idea what to make of her arrest, seeing as none of them knew about her backstreet job.

Imelda Staunton is Vera Drake, and delivers one of the greatest performances of the decade, if not of all time. Like in all of Leigh's other films, she and the other actors live in their characters for months before the cameras are put to use, so the end result isn't so much a film as an exclusive look into these people's lives.

Staunton's performance carries the film, but the ensemble--regular Leigh thespians, such as Sally Hawkins, Peter Wright, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, Jim Broadbent--all turn in beautiful, deeply lived-in performances as well.

Vera Drake is a crushingly sad film, but it is careful not to give a pro-life or pro-choice message. It is simply a tragic portrait of an earnest, kind-hearted woman who finds herself on the wrong side of the law.

Absolutely top-notch, and one of the best films of the decade.