Vera Drake (DVD)

Vera Drake is a film set in the 1950s which deals with the subject of abortion. The film is named after the woman in the film, Vera Drake, who is a normal housewife, but she helps women who want abortions. I very much like films which have a message and make you think, and I additionally liked this film because it doesn't dictate what you should think about the issues in the film, but presents them in a way which lets you make your own mind up about the issues. The film is very different to many in so much as that great chunks of the dialogue are improvised. Indeed I read that when the film was nominated for a major award for its script, they ...  Read the complete review

Vera Drake is an Academy Award-nominated British film directed by Mike Leigh. It tells the story of a working class woman in London in 1950, whose values conflict with the social mores of the period. Starring the spectacular Imelda Staunton at its lead the film appears at first to be straight forward, but delving a little deeper you can see the social consequences of living in the 50's, before the swing of the 60's! Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) is devoted to her family, looking after her husband and two children, her elderly mother, and a sick neighbor. Vera's daughter Ethel (Alex Kelly) works in a factory, and her son Sid (Daniel Mays) tailors men's suits. ...  Read the complete review

TITLE: Vera Drake CERTIFICATE: 12 CAST: Imelda Staunton, Richard Graham, Eddie Marsan, Anna Keaveney, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays, Phil Davis DIRECTOR: Mike Leigh RUNNING TIME: 125 minutes RELEASED: 7 January 2005 INTRODUCTION ******************* Vera Drake is the hardworking mother or a working class family in 1950’s London- a London still recovering from the ravages of war. Stockings and certain foodstuffs are still in short supply, many women are working to provide for their families after the loss of fathers and husbands, and many people still live in buildings that can only be ...  Read the complete review

Vera Drake is Mike Leigh’s BAFTA award winning drama about backstreet abortions in 1950s London. Vera (played by Imelda Staunton) is a typical working class mum living in London with her husband (played by Phil “shake me up” Davis), her enthusiastic son and her daughter, who hardly speaks. Although they don’t have much money, Vera likes to invite their lonely neighbour, Reg (Eddie Marsan), around for tea. By day Vera works as a cleaner for fairly wealthy families, but as well as this, she finds time to “help out young girls” – by carrying out backstreet abortions. Armed with just a bar of soap, a bowl of water, a tube and pump, and a cheese grater ...  Read the complete review

The film Vera Drake is set in a post war 1950s London. The Drake family themselves are just a normal working class family, living in what amounts to a few rooms in a housing block, and indeed with very few luxuries of living a mere 50 years later. Mr Drake works with his brother in a garage, their son works in a tailors and their daughter Ethel tests light bulbs in a factory. Vera herself wears many hats - as well as being a housewife and mother, she also works as a cleaner for wealthier households, while at the same time taking care of neighbours in the block who are either housebound or bed-bound, as well as indeed her own mother. And she fulfils another ...  Read the complete review