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Vera Drake
Cast
Vera: Imelda Staunton
Stan Drake: Philip Davis
Lily: Ruth Sheen
Det. Insp. Webster: Peter Wight
George: Richard Graham
Reg: Eddie Marsan
Nellie: Anna Keaveney
Ethel Drake: Alex Kelly
Sid Drake: Daniel Mays
Mrs. Wells: Lesley Manville
Joyce: Heather Craney
Susan: Sally Hawkins
Written and Directed by Mike Leigh.
Running time: 125 minutes
Cert: 12a
Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) is a happily married mother and housecleaner with an elfin face and a demeanour as bright as
the mantles she scrubs. When not tending to her beloved family, she makes the rounds of 1950s London, moving from one squalid
place to the next, spreading good cheer to the poor and ill alike. Occasionally, she makes her way to some rundown, out-of-the-way
flat equipped with another set of tools: a metal grater, soap and a hose-syringe. Always kind, especially to the frightened
women she encounters, Vera moonlights at a job of an entirely different and unexpected kind: she is an abortionist.
Writer/director Mike Leigh's (Abigail's Party, Naked, Secrets and Lies) ability to expose the pain and beauty inherent
in working class life has always marked him as a unique filmmaker but what makes him and his films great is his ability to
focus his films away from the issue and onto the individual. When a patient nearly dies after one of Vera's procedures, the
police burst in to arrest her during a celebratory family dinner. Unaware of her second vocation, the ensuing drama that unfolds
is as gripping as it is tragic in its circumstance. But what might have been relegated to soap opera is lifted to the realm
of stirring human drama through the intimate artistry of Staunton. She paints a compelling canvas with a stunning peformance
as Vera that will be difficult to ignore when the awards season rolls around.
Leigh, for his part, does not meddle with the portrayal by moralising. Known for his improvisational style of writing,
he allows Staunton and her fellow actors to completely immerse themselves into their parts to the point of utter seamlessness.
Superbly acted, beautifully detailed and deceptively powerful, Vera Drake never makes the mistake of turning its story into
a political debate. Vera performs abortions simply because, as she repeatedly says, she wants to help other women. It's a
statement that in any other film by any other director would sound like condescension, but comes off here as proof of Leigh's
deep feeling for this character.
"Vera Drake" is also a family portrait: the loyal and loving husband, the mousy daughter who strikes up a shy
romance with a homely neighbour, the status-conscious son working as an apprentice tailor, the sheepish brother-in-law being
force-fed the suburban dream by a grasping wife. The film is so well cast that the family members even look alike. And as
drab as it sounds, Leigh brings a tender beauty to this atmosphere of polite repression - from the ornately dingy wallpaper
to the ubiquitous cigarettes, which are offered like tiny, consoling comforts amid the subtle incarceration of British class
society.
The Merchant Of Venice
Director-screenwriter: Michael Radford
Based on the play by William Shakespeare
Producers: Cary Brokaw, Michael Cowan, David Navidi, Jason Piette
Co-producers: Nigel Goldsack
Executive producers: Gary Hamilton, Michael Hammer, Peter James, Pete Maggi, Alex Marshall, James Simpson, Manfred Wilde
Cinematographer: Benoit Delhomme
Production designer: Bruno Rubeo
Art direction: Tamara Marini
Editor: Lucia Zucchetti
Costumes: Sammy Sheldon
Composer: Jocelyn Pook
Cast:
Shylock: Al Pacino
Antonio: Jeremy Irons
Bassanio: Joseph Fiennes
Portia: Lynn Collins
Tubal: Allan Corduner
Lorenzo: Charlie Cox
Launcelot Gobbo: Mackenzie Crook
Solanio: Gregor Fisher
Jessica: Zuleikha Robinson.
Running time -- 124 minutes
Of all Shakespeare's plays, "The Merchant of Venice" comes with the most baggage in modern times because of its
anti-Semitic characterisation of Shylock, the moneylender.
The film's director is Michael Radford (whose past work includes the sublime "Il Postino"), claims screenwriting
credit, and stars Al Pacino - rendering Shylock as a man whose demand for his pound of flesh is driven as much by the loss
of his daughter to a Christian lover as by the horrendous discrimination he and other Jews suffered in Venice.
Pacino gives a keenly measured performance, leading an excellent British cast through their paces in a richly colourful
production that should please selective audiences and adds to the list of major film adaptations of Shakespeare's work. The
story is a typical Shakespearean contrivance. Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) wishes to woo the lovely Portia (Lynn Collins) in
distant Belmont but lacks the money to get there. To help him, wealthy friend Antonio (Jeremy Irons), whose money is tied
up in foreign deals, obtains a loan of 3,000 ducats from Shylock but makes a bizarre bond to guarantee it.
Jews in Venice at that time were ghetto-ised, and Antonio has recently spat at Shylock and called him a dog. Now, as Pacino's
character shrewdly observes, he needs Shylock's help. Shylock agress to the loan but seeks no interest on his money. Instead,
he requires from Antonio a pound of his flesh should he renege on the repayment. The bond is sealed, and Bassanio goes off
to win Portia's heart. Eventually the pair are engaged and Bassanio returns to Venice to celebrate. Antonio, however, has
lost everything at sea and Shylock is demanding what he's owed. In another typically Shakespearean ploy, Portia disguises
herself as a man who becomes involved as the arbiter of the court on whether the bond is valid. Her cleverness and wit turn
the tables on just about everyone, and only Shylock is the loser.
Pacino brings his considerable screen presence to make the moneylender's anger real: His unconscionable demand is almost
comprehensible. Irons' line readings are as seemingly effortless as always, such is his mastery of his voice. Also, Collins
makes Portia not only a calculating beauty but also a warm and winning one.
The film is beautifully shot by Benoit Delhomme, who exploits the Venice locations to full advantage. Jocelyn Pook's music
inhabits the shadows and sunshine with unobtrusive clarity.
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