Vera Drake (2004)
Vera Drake (2004)
9.2
*I'm trying to start working my way through my Top 30 Films to Still see from the Past Decade. If I have a decent amount of films with very high marks in the next couple of months, this would be why.
Vera Drake is a touching and heartbreaking story of one woman who just wants to help people. In 1950 London, Vera helps women have abortions. Told through the eyes of the master Mike Leigh and led by a remarkable performance by Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake is a type of story not often told the way only Mike Leigh can tell it which means it is not like other films.
Vera Drake tells the story of, well, Vera Drake. She dedicates her life to helping others and is completely selfless. She is a house cleaner but she also does various favors for others in the area. She always has her best face on, takes care of her bedridden mother and attempts to fix her daughter Ethel (Alex Kelly) up with a man named Reg (Eddie Marsan). The list goes on and on. She has a healthy and appreciative relationship with her husband Stanley (Phil Davis) who works as a car mechanic. Besides their mousey and shy daughter Ethel, they have a son Sid (Daniel Mays) who is a tailor. On the side, Vera is an abortionist. She won’t take money for the help she provides for women but the women who arranges the visits, Lily (Ruth Sheen), does take money which Vera does not know about. This is the basic set-up of the film.
Leigh’s unique creative process using improvisation from the actors to construct a working script through their exploration of the characters always gives his films a sense of freedom. The plot is inconsequential. It is all about letting the characters, scenes and situations breath in order for the audience to have a better and more authentic understanding of these elements. The family dynamic is crucial to the success of Vera Drake. The first half of the film is mainly focused on seeing how Vera spends her time and her general characteristics which are comprised of overwhelming kindness, loyalty, and compassion. More importantly, the film spends most of the first hour establishing the family dynamic. They are shown eating dinner, having tea, interacting with one another. These scenes and this dynamic are so important that Leigh had the actors playing the members of the family live together for months. The Drake’s are not exactly poor but they are certainly not middle class and in a cramped space such as theirs, a sense of lived in interaction and comfort from the characters is crucial. The method pays off as this family not only feels completely and exceedingly real but when taking into consideration the events of the latter half of the film, it packs a much stronger emotional punch than it normally would.
Watching the scenes that show the Drake family simply interacting with one another is highly engaging and rewarding. Time is also taken to establish each member of the family on their own terms and not merely as supporting characters that serve to merely enhance Vera’s story. Stanley is shown working as a car mechanic with his brother Frank (Adrian Scarorough) whose wife Joyce (Heather Craney) belongs to the middle class, causing them to separate a bit now that they belong to different social classes. Stanley’s brother Frank becomes more prominent in the second half of the film and their relationship is one of the most moving between brothers especially in its subtlety and almost passive focus. Sid is shown at work and with his two friends as they try to pick up girls at a local dance hall. Ethel is shown at work as well and she has an entire subplot, showing her relationship with Reg who Vera brings home in the hopes that the two will hit it off. Instead of having these characters simply exist in order for Vera’s story to be told, despite the title of the film, it is the story of this family first and foremost both as individuals and as a family unit.
There is also a subplot earlier in the film which involves the daughter of Vera’s employer, Susan Wells (Sally Hawkins). Susan is raped and is shown going through the highly mechanical process of procuring an abortion. The process for this already extremely shy and traumatized woman is helpful but ultimately an experience that causes much more vulnerability than it should. She is essentially categorized as suicidal in order to obtain her abortion and she if forced to admit that she had been raped as opposed to being able to keep her reasons to herself. These scenes, while completely separate from the main story are important because they highlight the differences between the process of getting a sanctioned abortion and the privacy of Vera’s methods. It also represents the class differences in London and the ability for someone like Susan to obtain what she needed and the complete absence of this option for the women that Vera helps out.
The various women Vera helps out are showcased as well. Numerous scenes of Vera visiting others are shown and the women receiving help from Vera all have different reasons and have different questions or reactions. Instead of making it a point to show each women having different situations, this is yet another instance of subtlety in the film as this is usually either established with a line, a moment or the entire scene. It varies, giving each scene a different and not repetitive feel to it.
The second half of the film shifts drastically as the emotional punch of it all kicks in. The freedom given to the family dynamic makes everything much more palpable than it would be in another film. Leigh is doing a lot with social class differences here in a lot of different ways, from Susan’s subplot to the frigidity of Susan’s relationship to her mother in comparison to the Drake family dynamic, Susan’s abortion process and Vera’s and so forth. In addition to this, Frank’s wife Joyce also represents the upper class. She is overwhelmingly selfish, does not fit well into Frank’s family and has no desire to. She wants new things and is very cold and unwelcoming. This would lead to the only inherent flaw contained within the film. Leigh gives such life and vividness to the lower class here while the upper class is over stereotyped and too simplistic. Outside of Susan who is looked at with sympathy, the other upper class characters from Susan’s friend, mother, Joyce, etc are all seen as exceedingly cold to the point where they stop being characters. The characters might be this way but when multiple women are seen in this light it becomes problematic and overly simplistic, diminishing some of the commentary of class differences.
The acting in this is, as was said earlier, remarkable. Imelda Staunton gives the performance of 2004 as Vera. Her demeanor in each half is very different due to circumstances and she performs both mindsets beautifully. Her best moment, the highlight moment of the film comes when it shifts and the look on Vera’s face says it all in astonishing intensity, fear and hopelessness. Phil Davis, unjustly looked over during awards season of that year is equally amazing as Stanley. Sally Hawkins sticks out as Susan in a very early role, managing to establish herself as someone to watch with little screen time. Going over the impression that the performances leaves on the viewer is almost pointless because it would involve mentioning everyone including people with bit parts. Everyone is interesting to watch in their own way. For example Peter Wight plays an important role as Detective Inspector Webster. His role is simply to ask questions. We do not learn anything about him in the film and yet he manages to bring humanity and a curiosity to him, provoking me to spend every scene with him trying to get in his head. Also, Helen Coker has a role as WPC Best. She is there mainly to console people as they are questioned. She has no character but Coker gives her character as we can clearly see she sympathized with Vera and she becomes very engaging to watch as well. Every character is like this and it provides constant intrigue to everything.
A word must be said about the production design which is rather eye popping in yet another subtle way. The wallpaper on the Drake residence is catching and striking and random props almost become characters as well such as the teapot cover which looks like a winter hat made with green yarn. The Drake residence is cramped but comfy, enhancing the lived in feel of the film and giving the family an additional sense of closeness.
Vera Drake is a film that succeeds so strongly because of the freedom of the characters. Leigh is one of the most interesting filmmakers right now because of not only his techniques which work special wonders on each of his projects giving it a feel unlike everything else. Following a loose structure allows the film to feel more natural and not like a writer pushing his characters to places they need to go because of a fixed time limit or because that’s how screenplays are supposed to be. It gives a sense of realism and the actors’ extreme involvement in the creation of the film strengthens the sense of character and performance. Vera Drake is another film that falls into the best of the past decade category. Between the three films of his I’ve seen I cannot choose between them. That is an exciting feeling to have and it only makes me want to consume everything he has to offer. Vera Drake is not to be missed.
9.2
*I'm trying to start working my way through my Top 30 Films to Still see from the Past Decade. If I have a decent amount of films with very high marks in the next couple of months, this would be why.
Vera Drake is a touching and heartbreaking story of one woman who just wants to help people. In 1950 London, Vera helps women have abortions. Told through the eyes of the master Mike Leigh and led by a remarkable performance by Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake is a type of story not often told the way only Mike Leigh can tell it which means it is not like other films.
Vera Drake tells the story of, well, Vera Drake. She dedicates her life to helping others and is completely selfless. She is a house cleaner but she also does various favors for others in the area. She always has her best face on, takes care of her bedridden mother and attempts to fix her daughter Ethel (Alex Kelly) up with a man named Reg (Eddie Marsan). The list goes on and on. She has a healthy and appreciative relationship with her husband Stanley (Phil Davis) who works as a car mechanic. Besides their mousey and shy daughter Ethel, they have a son Sid (Daniel Mays) who is a tailor. On the side, Vera is an abortionist. She won’t take money for the help she provides for women but the women who arranges the visits, Lily (Ruth Sheen), does take money which Vera does not know about. This is the basic set-up of the film.
Leigh’s unique creative process using improvisation from the actors to construct a working script through their exploration of the characters always gives his films a sense of freedom. The plot is inconsequential. It is all about letting the characters, scenes and situations breath in order for the audience to have a better and more authentic understanding of these elements. The family dynamic is crucial to the success of Vera Drake. The first half of the film is mainly focused on seeing how Vera spends her time and her general characteristics which are comprised of overwhelming kindness, loyalty, and compassion. More importantly, the film spends most of the first hour establishing the family dynamic. They are shown eating dinner, having tea, interacting with one another. These scenes and this dynamic are so important that Leigh had the actors playing the members of the family live together for months. The Drake’s are not exactly poor but they are certainly not middle class and in a cramped space such as theirs, a sense of lived in interaction and comfort from the characters is crucial. The method pays off as this family not only feels completely and exceedingly real but when taking into consideration the events of the latter half of the film, it packs a much stronger emotional punch than it normally would.
Watching the scenes that show the Drake family simply interacting with one another is highly engaging and rewarding. Time is also taken to establish each member of the family on their own terms and not merely as supporting characters that serve to merely enhance Vera’s story. Stanley is shown working as a car mechanic with his brother Frank (Adrian Scarorough) whose wife Joyce (Heather Craney) belongs to the middle class, causing them to separate a bit now that they belong to different social classes. Stanley’s brother Frank becomes more prominent in the second half of the film and their relationship is one of the most moving between brothers especially in its subtlety and almost passive focus. Sid is shown at work and with his two friends as they try to pick up girls at a local dance hall. Ethel is shown at work as well and she has an entire subplot, showing her relationship with Reg who Vera brings home in the hopes that the two will hit it off. Instead of having these characters simply exist in order for Vera’s story to be told, despite the title of the film, it is the story of this family first and foremost both as individuals and as a family unit.
There is also a subplot earlier in the film which involves the daughter of Vera’s employer, Susan Wells (Sally Hawkins). Susan is raped and is shown going through the highly mechanical process of procuring an abortion. The process for this already extremely shy and traumatized woman is helpful but ultimately an experience that causes much more vulnerability than it should. She is essentially categorized as suicidal in order to obtain her abortion and she if forced to admit that she had been raped as opposed to being able to keep her reasons to herself. These scenes, while completely separate from the main story are important because they highlight the differences between the process of getting a sanctioned abortion and the privacy of Vera’s methods. It also represents the class differences in London and the ability for someone like Susan to obtain what she needed and the complete absence of this option for the women that Vera helps out.
The various women Vera helps out are showcased as well. Numerous scenes of Vera visiting others are shown and the women receiving help from Vera all have different reasons and have different questions or reactions. Instead of making it a point to show each women having different situations, this is yet another instance of subtlety in the film as this is usually either established with a line, a moment or the entire scene. It varies, giving each scene a different and not repetitive feel to it.
The second half of the film shifts drastically as the emotional punch of it all kicks in. The freedom given to the family dynamic makes everything much more palpable than it would be in another film. Leigh is doing a lot with social class differences here in a lot of different ways, from Susan’s subplot to the frigidity of Susan’s relationship to her mother in comparison to the Drake family dynamic, Susan’s abortion process and Vera’s and so forth. In addition to this, Frank’s wife Joyce also represents the upper class. She is overwhelmingly selfish, does not fit well into Frank’s family and has no desire to. She wants new things and is very cold and unwelcoming. This would lead to the only inherent flaw contained within the film. Leigh gives such life and vividness to the lower class here while the upper class is over stereotyped and too simplistic. Outside of Susan who is looked at with sympathy, the other upper class characters from Susan’s friend, mother, Joyce, etc are all seen as exceedingly cold to the point where they stop being characters. The characters might be this way but when multiple women are seen in this light it becomes problematic and overly simplistic, diminishing some of the commentary of class differences.
The acting in this is, as was said earlier, remarkable. Imelda Staunton gives the performance of 2004 as Vera. Her demeanor in each half is very different due to circumstances and she performs both mindsets beautifully. Her best moment, the highlight moment of the film comes when it shifts and the look on Vera’s face says it all in astonishing intensity, fear and hopelessness. Phil Davis, unjustly looked over during awards season of that year is equally amazing as Stanley. Sally Hawkins sticks out as Susan in a very early role, managing to establish herself as someone to watch with little screen time. Going over the impression that the performances leaves on the viewer is almost pointless because it would involve mentioning everyone including people with bit parts. Everyone is interesting to watch in their own way. For example Peter Wight plays an important role as Detective Inspector Webster. His role is simply to ask questions. We do not learn anything about him in the film and yet he manages to bring humanity and a curiosity to him, provoking me to spend every scene with him trying to get in his head. Also, Helen Coker has a role as WPC Best. She is there mainly to console people as they are questioned. She has no character but Coker gives her character as we can clearly see she sympathized with Vera and she becomes very engaging to watch as well. Every character is like this and it provides constant intrigue to everything.
A word must be said about the production design which is rather eye popping in yet another subtle way. The wallpaper on the Drake residence is catching and striking and random props almost become characters as well such as the teapot cover which looks like a winter hat made with green yarn. The Drake residence is cramped but comfy, enhancing the lived in feel of the film and giving the family an additional sense of closeness.
Vera Drake is a film that succeeds so strongly because of the freedom of the characters. Leigh is one of the most interesting filmmakers right now because of not only his techniques which work special wonders on each of his projects giving it a feel unlike everything else. Following a loose structure allows the film to feel more natural and not like a writer pushing his characters to places they need to go because of a fixed time limit or because that’s how screenplays are supposed to be. It gives a sense of realism and the actors’ extreme involvement in the creation of the film strengthens the sense of character and performance. Vera Drake is another film that falls into the best of the past decade category. Between the three films of his I’ve seen I cannot choose between them. That is an exciting feeling to have and it only makes me want to consume everything he has to offer. Vera Drake is not to be missed.
