Vera Drake
Short description
Vera Drake is a drama set in London in the 1950s. Vera, played by Imelda Staunton, is a working-class wife and mother who cleans houses and cares for her elderly mother and a sick neighbour. Her husband Stan, played by Phil Davis, is a mechanic, and money is tight, but the family is close and content. What none of them know is that Vera quietly visits women who are unwillingly pregnant and helps them end their pregnancies. In Britain at that time, doing so was against the law, and she acts out of a wish to help rather than for payment. When one of these procedures goes wrong and a woman ends up in hospital, the police become involved and Vera's secret life collapses, bringing trouble to her and her family.
Mike Leigh directed and wrote the film, which came after Topsy-Turvy in his filmography. It is a British and French production, with Alain Sarde and Simon Channing Williams producing. Alongside Staunton and Davis, the cast includes Sally Hawkins, Daniel Mays, Eddie Marsan and Alex Kelly, among around sixty credited performers.
Made for about 11 million dollars, Vera Drake took roughly 13 million dollars worldwide, earning less than its cost at the box office. Critics rated it highly, 7.9 out of 10 from 162 reviews, while audiences were somewhat cooler: on IMDb and on TMDB it sits at 7.2 out of 10, based on 426 votes on the latter.
What's left behind the scenes
- Throughout filming, all actors were forbidden from telling even their families what they were working on or what the film was about.
- The film was shot on Super 16mm film and, after digital processing and color correction, printed onto 35mm film.
- Despite being filmed without a script, Mike Leigh's film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Screenplay category. Mike Leigh said he had to prepare a screenplay in order to submit it to Academy members. But in reality, the screenplay that was nominated doesn't exist. The film *is* the screenplay.
- With the exception of Imelda Staunton, none of the actors knew the film touched on the subject of abortion until their characters found out as the plot unfolded.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
