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Mike Leigh returns to the screen with the Golden Lion winning, Vera Drake, a beautifully crafted and effecting drama that finds the Director at a career highpoint. Vera Drake is a portrait of a selfless woman who is totally dedicated to her loving working class family, but Vera has a secret side. Her days are filled with time spent doting on them even as she also is devoted to caring for her sick neighbor and elderly mother. At the same time, unbeknownst to family and friends, she visits women and helps them to induce miscarriages for their unwanted pregnancies, a practice that is illegal in 1950s England. While Vera believes she is simply helping women in need of assistance, the dichotomy of her idyllic home life and her illegal activities make for a fascinating study. So much of Vera Drake's resonance and ultimate success lies in the detail, the believable, densely populated social environment that Leigh and his actors have created, full of humour, sharp observation and ultimately, humanity.
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