Vera Drake (2004)
Mike Leigh is a brilliant director
and a thoughtful screenwriter. "Vera Drake" is one
of his finest film. With the most tender of touches,
Leigh has crafted a film of infinite wisdom, of brilliant
joy, of utter sorrow and of heartfelt love. This is
a movie that moves you with no force shown, that touches
you with no hand in evidence.
Anyone who walks into the movie by
now knows of its storyline concerning a woman who
does "backstreet" abortions in 1950's Britain. But
those expecting a ham-handed, preachy or "message"
motivated film will be sorely disappointed. Likewise,
those expecting a technical and instructional film
that shows the different ways that these "illegal"
operations were executed before the medical profession
was allowed to undertake them will also find themselves
let down. "Vera Drake" is about characters first and
foremost and we are introduced to many that we grow
to like. The "message" in this film, if there is one,
comes not from dramatics or manipulation or even education
but rather from witnessing a story unfold involving
characters we grow to care about deeply.
We meet Vera, an aging housewife
and mother who also works as a cleaning lady, as well
as her devoted husband, her cheerful and fun-loving
son, and her shy daughter. Vera introduces a lonely
neighbor to the family and he soon strikes up a stilted
romantic relationship with the demure daughter. Leigh
lets us come to know and like these people. He takes
his time with their story and the undertaking of it
is so joyous and delightful for the viewer that we
gladly engage in the experience fully.
Leigh also sets up several instances
of women who may or may not get pregnant at the early
stages of the film. At first we assume that these
are going to become situations where Vera's skills
as an abortionist will later come into play. But the
writer and his cast have a much more subtle course
in mind and we find that these stories are here instead
to help illustrate the different courses a pregnancy
might take in the 50's. One story is about a happy
couple conceiving, another eventually shows us how
a wealthy girl might deal with getting a "legal" abortion
through some clever deceit. In this way, "Vera Drake"
is far more ingenious and insightful. Leigh's deft
touches in the story allow us to witness events and
put the pieces together for ourselves.
The film is beautiful to witness.
Not only is every single nuance in the images of the
film perfect in every way, but the period dynamics
of the sets, locales and props are also spot on. This
film easily draws the viewer back to the 1950's and
in images, rather than ham-handed storyline, reminds
us of how naive, conservative and innocent things
were then. It is the backdrop to the theme of the
story, to its moral, and as expected Leigh unfurls
it not with a bang but with a whisper.
If there is any problem here it
is in the use some cacophonous a cappella choir music
that Leigh insists on using in the film. This rather
typical device is the only thing that ever takes us
out of the film. Perhaps Leigh meant the music to
haunt the story but instead it often overpowers it,
making it seem trite and obvious. This chorus of inharmonious
vocals seems intended to conjure up the voices of
the babies aborted by the title character as they
bemoan their fate in limbo and its only result is
to make the viewer question whether or not Leigh has
created a message movie or not here. While irritating
and somewhat trite, the voices also remind us of both
sides of the issue at hand here and, as it should
be, allows us to question the right and the wrong
of the subject at hand while understanding the sad
but obvious truth about it as well.
Notes:
With Imelda Staunton and Jim Broadbent.
The film, its makers and Ms. Staunton
have been nominated for and won several awards.
Supposedly several actors in the
film were not informed of Vera Drake's "crime" until
their characters found out in the movie. Leigh is
well-known for improvising with his cast, then scripting
using those improvisations and making the film from
that script, so I am not sure at exactly which point
in the process the other actors playing Vera's family
discovered her "secret."
Viewed at the Arbor in Austin in
January, 2005.
