Vera Drake (2004)

Synopsis: In 1950 England, a working-class housewife, esteemed by everyone, has a secret activity on the side: she performs abortions.
Appraisal: This film is a very elaborate and detailed propaganda piece for the cause of legalized, state-sponsored abortion. In order to achieve that goal, several characters, sufficiently defined for the purpose of assessing their reaction to the referred subject matter, are strategically created. The main character is defined as a woman who likes to help people, and that (along with a fact in her own past, the exact nature of which is not revealed) is the motive that allegedly leads her to the illegal acts she performs. It seems that this choice is optimal for the filmmaker's agenda, since it makes clear that it is not a question of individual character, but of public policy. Further evidence that this film is not about characters but about politics is given by the fact that there are events in the movie that have no significant relation to Vera, namely the episode with the rich girl who has an abortion in a clinic. The upper-class characters have no development and the episode is there with the sole purpose of showing the injustice that the hypocritical legislation imposes on the less favored classes. An excellent, very informative review about this movie can be found on the User Comments section of IMDb; it was written by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre.
Rating: 61