Vera Drake

C

Carl Kneel

New member
Hi all

I have just heard about a film called Vera Drake its meant to be excellent about an Enlglish who set up care homes for children in a time before social services but who also did illegal abortions

my question is does anyone know when it is released in the Uk, I am dying to see it

thanks

Andy
 
I saw Vera Drake this weekend and thought it was an excellent film. Heartbreaking maybe but brilliant work to the last detail, Imelda Staunton particularly was great as Vera
 
Just back from seeing it this evening. I missed the first 5 minutes of it and so didn't see anything of her setting up care homes for children, I did hear her husband and brother in law discussing how good she was at finding homes for people but I didn't know what that was about. The abortions were very difficult to watch given the circumstances they were preformed in and the situations the girls having them were in given how society viewed "fallen" women at the time. I thought Imelda Staunton was excellent in it, you really got the impression that she cared about these girls and wasn't just in it for what she could get out of it. Its not a pleasent movie but its worth seeing. At just over 2 hours though I did find it a little long though.
 
I really wanted to see this film, it has had some blinding reviews and Imelda Staunton has a best actress Oscar Nomination for her role. I also love these "British" type films made by people like Mike Leigh.

Yet our stupid small minded bloody Odeon (the only cinema we have in Colchester) originally refused to show it. Under a wave of protest they have now backed down and are showing it once a day at something like 12-15pm for week. If there is a demand then they may run it for an extra week in the evenings.

I find this attitude absolutley incredible - what egg will they have on their faces if by chance she does win the Oscar!!
 
Refused to show it? Seriously?

Mike Leigh is one of the best British directors ever, and thats no hyperboly, and this film is another masterpiece. Considering all that tripe that comes out of Hollywood every year, it was fantastic to see this come into view in the Oscar nominations.

It's not easy to watch at times, but if all films had to be easy to watch, then we'd be stuck with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks for all eternity.

*shudders at the thought of Tom interupting his time with Meg. ;)
 
I have missed quite a few films because of our Cinema neglecting to pick them up - The Life And times Of Peter Sellers is one that comes to mind from last year.

Yet they will happily show the latest "Blockbuster" in 2 or 3 of the 8 cinemas.!!
 
One of the major problems with British cinema is the actual distribution. They just shy away from anything that is not ultra mainstream. So whole sections of European cinema (that includes the UK, by the way) just don't get seen. In that respect, British cinemas are just an extension of the US.

And showing award-winning contemporary films at 12.15 weekdays won't change much.


M
http://the-script.blogspot.com
 
i hated this film.

how on earth could she keep it a secret that she was performing abortions NEARBY for TWENTY YEARS???

how could she have been so stupid that she didn't know money was changing hanRAB?

why in mike leigh films are the working class ALWAYS salt-of-the-earth yet any middle class people are usually vile? (mike leigh is middle class remember...)

and the way she went about performing abortions was more dangerous than shoving a coat hanger up (though i doubt anyone would have felt sorry for her if they'd seen her doing that on screen..)
 
This is the best film I have seen for ages, and may be Mike Leigh's best. Imelda Staunton is incredible, and I was completely numbed by the end of the film.

I also spotted the class issues here, but surely it's meant to show an area of history and social inequality that is often overlooked.

Also, Vera did not say she had been doing abortions for twenty years. the detective inspector said that for her, as she was too emotional to speak. Vera was not accompanied by a lawyer in her police interviews (was it a requirement that she should have been?), and the interviews ended up a real sham, no matter how sympathetic the police may have been.

Best film for ages.

I was amazed that my local Odious showed it. They don't ususally bother (but they're better than the "vue" across town).

chuff.x.
 
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