Vera Drake

One of the most lavishly praised film of 2004, VERA DRAKE is set in London, 1950 - the title character lives in a small flat with her husband Stan, and their grown-up son and daughter, Sid and Ethel. The family is not rich, but their combined incomes make for a reasonable life. Vera is a domestic, Stan a mechanic in his brother Frank's garage, and Ethel works in a light-bulb factory. Sid is an apprentice tailor. The Drakes have something money can't buy: they are a genuinely happy family. As part of her life as a person always watching out for and lending a helping hand to her neighbors, Vera also helps indigent and unhappily pregnant young women induce miscarriages. It's a secret, it's illegal, and things change dramatically when Vera's activities come to attention of the authorities.



"VERA DRAKE" . . . is the English director Mike Leigh's best work in a decade." -- Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES



"The acting is brilliant and Leigh's screenplay -- developed through his usual process of improvisation and rehearsal -- is very long on compassion, very short on preaching and politics." -- David Sterritt, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR



"Using Staunton's face as his canvas, Leigh crafts a powerfully moving film that is unmissable and unforgettable." -- Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE



"You can almost smell the damp wool and feel the worn china teacups of an exhausted 1950s London in Mike Leigh's stunning and compassionate period drama VERA DRAKE ." -- Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY



"While the drama is emotionally harrowing it's also riveting, profoundly affecting and observed with a real generosity of spirit." -- David Rooney, VARIETY



"VERA DRAKE confirms Leigh's reputation as one of the world's master filmmakers -- and showcases Staunton as one of its great actresses." -- Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST



"Building up to a shattering conclusion, Leigh's movie is both outrageously schematic and powerfully humanist." -- J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE



"VERA DRAKE is perfect down to the last detail." -- Jami Bernard, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS



"It's difficult to think of another recent film so seamlessly rendered or that envelops an audience so completely in its period authenticity." -- Ray Bennett, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER



"Vera is given a thoroughly devastating portrayal by Imelda Staunton, in the kind of role that elevates an actress into a lofty realm where those who never knew her suddenly knew it all along." -- John Anderson, NEWSDAY