Humane abortion?
VERA DRAKE Cert. 12A Director: Mike Leigh
Vera Drake is quite a remarkable film. Mike Leigh has exquisitely captured the 'Old Britain': much of the film's backdrop is shrouded in the once so familiar smog and greyness that seemed to characterise Britain pre mid-1970s.
As a piece of cinematography Vera Drake is wonderful, I could almost smell the boiled cabbage and envisage the brown and mustard cardigans of my early years. However, as an accurate social commentary the film is akin to portraying Marie Stopes as Florence Nightingale or Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair as Ghandi. Like so many before him, Mike Leigh attempts to champion the cause of the 'poor working class' and by doing so shows quite clearly that his pedigree hails not from that stable.
The film smacks of an Islington 'wannabee nouveau working class' and bears all the familiar mistakes that white English middle class film producers often make. Vera Drake is portrayed as a compassionate, nice woman who is so burdened by the plight of the socially disadvantaged that she risks all to help the unfortunate women who 'get themselves in trouble', the film's portrayal of a backstreet abortion by Vera borders on the farcical and gives us a glimpse of producer Mike Leigh's 'pro-choice' credentials.
