Vera Drake

Directed by Mike Leigh

Released 7 January 2005

Rating: ***

Mike Leigh's Vera Drake has already been dubbed "the best British film of the year" and this may not be unwarranted praise. The veteran director continues his commentary on British society (previous films include Secrets and Lies and Topsy Turvy) showing his aptitude for forming complex characterisations and his skill in dealing with important social issues. In this film, he explores the actions of a back street abortionist in postwar London, through the life of Vera Drake.

SIMON MEIN/FINE LINE FEATURES

Imelda Staunton as Vera Drake

Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) is portrayed as an angelic 1950s housewife who cheerily goes about her day amid the austerity of postwar London. She is depicted as a selfless saint who tends to her elderly mother, checks on her invalid neighbour, and invites lonely war veterans to dinner in the flat she shares with her husband, Stan (Phil Davis), and children, Sid (Daniel Mays) and the introverted Ethel (Alex Kelly). She also cleans rich people's homes and works in a light bulb factory with the same air of perseverance and good will. What none of the people in her life know is that for years, she has been clandestinely "helping out" young girls "what find themselves in the family way." She is found out after one of her charges almost dies from peritonitis, and the police arrest her under Britain's Offences Against the Person Act (1861), which made abortions illegal under any circumstances.

We see Drake doing abortions on working and lower middle class women whose reasons for the procedure vary from having too many mouths to feed to fear of the social consequences. Alongside this, we see Susan (Sally Hawkins), the daughter of the family Drake cleansfor, using an alternative route to get an abortion after her boyfriend rapes her. She convinces a psychiatrist that she is of infirm mind and he refers her to a private clinic for a legal abortion, costing £100 ($187; €143). This is a sharp socioeconomic contrast-criminalisation of abortion only stops the poor; rich women in similar situations can pay to exploit a loophole in the law.

SB/KEYSTONE USA/REX

Mike Leigh

The film does well to make its points serenely, without using the characters to preach the rights and wrongs of abortion. There are no drawn out speeches, no moralising or religious fervour; we are simply shown the situations under which the abortions are done and the consequences which Drake faces from the law, her community, and her family when she is arrested. We are  told the story in a deceptively simple manner and left to analyse its components.

Leigh made the film using a technique in which he gathers the cast for a few weeks of improvisation allowing them to explore and create their characters, without strictly relying on a preconceived script. This has no doubt contributed to the calibre of the portrayal, with Staunton creating a complex portrait of Drake in a pivotal role, which holds the strong supporting cast together.

The film has a grey postwar feel that wore thin towards the end of the film, especially as Drake becomes almost catatonic after her arrest. Her chirpiness evaporates, and she does not defend herself; perhaps this is consistent with the portrait of a 1950s housewife, but to see her wilting so easily is frustrating. Her refusal to call what she does abortion is interesting though unnerving; she balks when the inspector asks her if she does abortions, leaving us to wonder if by calling it "[helping] young girls out when they can't manage" or "[helping] them start their bleeding again," she protects herself from fully realising what she does or the consequences of her actions.

The film has already won a clutch of awards (including best film at the Venice Film Festival) and Imelda Staunton has deservedly won and been nominated for various best actress awards. The film is absorbing, with meticulous attention to period detail; is beautifully acted; and is thought provoking on an issue that is still relevant today.