爱心小天使2009

The morality behind this movie is related to the problem of having unwanted babies. In fact, the United States has the highest rates of births to teenage mothers of all industrial nations, and the United Kingdom ranks the 2nd.

As far as I observe, some of the same people who complain about women delaying childbearing while they wallow in unbridled sexual consumerism, are also among the loudest critics of abortion. Some these concern stems from a disguised critique of feminism, which enables women to explore a healthy and safer sexuality. Efforts to stop unwanted motherhood have included, for example, increasing restrictions on access to birth control and even birth control information and restrictions on abortion, including parental consent and waiting periods.

Take, the statistics on rates of teenage motherhood for example. In the mid-1950s, 27 percent of all girls had sexual intercourse by age eighteen; in 1988, 56 percent of girls and 73 percent of boys had sexual intercourse by age eighteen. In 1991, the rate of adolescent childbearing-births to teen mothers per 1,000 girls — was 62.1, the highest rate since 1971, which was the year before abortion was legalized. This accounts for 9 percent of all births in the nation. Sixty-six percent of these young women were unmarried, compared with 1960, when only 15 percent were unmarried.

Such numbers can be "read" in several ways. For some, such numbers illustrate a calamitous increase in teen motherhood, attributable to wanton teenage sexuality and rampant immorality, an erosion of respect for the institution of marriage, and the growing crisis of fatherlessness. But for others, such numbers illustrate the erosion of access to adequate birth control information, the steady attacks on women's right to choose that restrict women's access to abortion and other means of birth control, and the increased freedom of young people from their parents' insistence on "shotgun weddings."

On these questions, the research is unanimous: Restricting access to information about birth control, access to birth control, and access to abortion has no bearing on rates of sexual activity. In fact, virtually all studies of the effect of sex education indicate a decrease in rates of sexual activity, greater sexual selectivity, and higher rates of safer sex practices. Young people will continue to become sexually active in their mid teens, whether or not they have access to birth control or information about it. In fact, restricting access is the surest way to encourage unwanted pregnancy. No wonder the highest rates of teen pregnancy occurred before abortion was legal.

The problem of “having unwanted babies” is also a way to blame women for men's irresponsibility. Politically, we are saying to young women that if they are going to dance (become sexually active), they will have to pay the piper (bear the consequences of unwanted pregnancies). But if, as we also know, it takes two to tango, perhaps the solution to the crisis of young motherhood lies in both increasing the abilities of these young women to become responsible (adequate health care, birth control information, and access to birth control) and in fostering a more responsible young manhood. In fact, casting the crisis as "having unwanted babies" masks another serious problem — girls' sexual victimization by men whose predatory sexual behavior goes unnoticed when the problem is cast in this way.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, over half (54 percent) the women raped in 2000 (a typical year) were juveniles under eighteen years old, and 21.6 percent were younger than twelve. Another study found that 96 percent of those female rape victims under twelve knew their attackers. In one of five cases, their rapist was also their father. Although there is some evidence that suggests that females under eighteen are also the most likely to file false reports of rape with the police (though virtually none of these allegations ever went to trial, and all the reports were retracted in the interview stage), these false reports seem to be the result of fears of pregnancy and the hope that declaring they were raped would permit the females to get an abortion, because in many states, abortion is legal only in cases of rape or a threat to the mother's health.

With those argument mentioned above, I prefer the translation "地下观音". And it could probably explain why people like Vera Drake was guilty but insisting never do things wrong.

那场戏，全家人和大女儿的男友的对话戏，1h39min30s，镜头、台词和表演都很值得学习。 “dirty”那句对德雷克太太的控诉是由儿子说出来的。

“如果你们养不起，就爱不了，不是吗”（if you can't feed them you can't love them，can you）这句话是由男友说出来的，他家里六个孩子，以身说法。这句话触动了儿子。

儿子在后面两场戏用和父亲的对话解释了他这一行为——他十三岁就参军了，他当然黑白分明，不理解世事。父亲则说，我要求你原谅她，你原谅她这件事，她会原谅你所有事（年少孟浪啊啥的），而且法律已经惩罚过她了。潜台词，在我看来是，好的，你不是军人吗。那我就像你十三岁那年一样，要求你，那时你答应我了，抗下来了，现在你也必须抗住这些你最厌恶的东西。

夹在这两场戏中间的那场戏也很好：夫妻俩在床上说，可怜的孩子，他还太黑白分明，不问世事。寥寥几句，那种父母对孩子的爱和无奈都出来了。最后德雷克太太还是很难过地哭了，和丈夫抱在一起——这段戏之后，你就知道丈夫背负着什么，下一场戏，你就特别希望儿子原谅母亲。

然后，儿子去找母亲和解了。这段的台词也特别好。

1h47min的圣诞节戏也很好。前面垫了两场那个金发女人的对维拉的糟糕反应，她甚至还哭得很委屈，所以氛围其实很糟。但大女儿的男友却说，这是最好的圣诞节，谢谢维拉。他吃了一颗维拉递过来的巧克力。这场戏就结束了。

最后的判决，“对他人起吓阻之效”，判了两年零六个月。

真的拍了监狱戏……另一个温和的阿姨问德雷克太太，那个女孩死了吗？德雷克太太：死了还得了？另一个阿姨：我的女孩死了。而且还有一个冷硬的太太，和那个温和的阿姨都是再犯。所以这个女人会再犯的吧，会再犯吗？

感谢这个结尾，我的娘啊。

题外话环节。

因为最近看的快节奏的东西太多了，一些同理心和伦理感确实有所消亡。而这部电影，这种节奏缓慢的、人物丰满的电影，就算讨厌其中某一个人，都不会说出来，我不愿意伤害他们其中的每一个人。

当然你看，这故事里的一些元素可以用到商业故事里。一家两个孩子，姐姐那样，弟弟那样，其实是英式的喜剧效果，可以拿去用。但是那些人物坏的地方，真的必须要给解释，而不能随便拿去用。

我没有那么喜欢这部电影，因为更多时候我还是需要一些强刺激的东西。但这部电影大概会成为我反复反复反复观看的电影之一。

反人类发言：我觉得对于一些电影来说，从结尾看，往开场找原因，比从开场看更能领会其魅力。

德雷克太太真的是一个特别好的银幕形象：圆圆的脸，一双又蓝又圆的眼睛，温润，通透，会说话一样。皮肤白白的，“娇小的女人，手很小”，柔软。

另一个对于法理问题的思考：欧美法系愿意从“善因论”来思考问题，是不是由于他们的善意真的是从圣经上批发下来的，然后圣经的解释又可以随着时代做出不同解说啊……我这样说可能过于偏颇。但我的意思是，他们需要有个东西在那里，才能去反另一样东西。如果没有一个东西在那，他们想象不到好的也想象不到坏的。他们其实会被一些抽象的“善”打动，所以才出现“善因”这么个东西。

【SIFF230612】9分，感觉这才是迈克李的舒适区，用稍微复杂和宏大一些的背景去讲小人物的故事或许更适合他。

昨天看完一无所有是我喊得太大声了，今天看完要夸回来。两年过去，卡司几乎都是原班人马，虽然英国一直有这个传统但是几乎所有人都来了，我还是想感叹迈克李或许本人真的很nice，号召力好强。

配乐的使用上节制了很多，运镜和构图更加灵动、技巧也多变了，叙事能力大大提高，人物塑造也出色，还加入了很多隐喻和象征。

维拉的富人雇主家女儿Susan Wales的经历镜像对应地补叙了维拉过去的遭遇，而且在后面庭审担保人那里的细节也做得很好，她不仅拒绝作证并且拒绝承认，因为她的阶级和身份（讽刺的是，即使是资产阶级人家的女儿，也没选择付给私人医生150磅解决问题而是来做了维拉的客人——这吃人的法律不是阶级的问题，这是性别问题，这是男权社会的问题）。

凝重的圣诞节家庭聚会上传递白巧克力的时候，弟妹Joyce和儿子Sid没有收下，而准女婿Reg拿了很多并感谢维拉，他是那个看到自己母亲的痛苦的人，他说得出「这对她们不公平」。Sid是男权社会意志的继承人，他在父亲战争离家后13岁就做了家庭的“顶梁柱”、也确实做到了很好地“关爱”和“保护”母亲和妹妹，深信不疑并乐在其中地肩负物种延续的职责，继续无意识地将女性视为所有物和生命孕育基地。【还想起来一个细节，Sid的台词里有“她骗了我们，瞒着我们不知道做了多少次，从你离开家的时候可能就已经开始了”这不仅体现出Sid对法律和规训的遵循与维护，对母亲丧失信任的恐慌，还有潜意识里所坚持的自我权威被冲击时的厌恶和愤怒】而Joyce是男权规则的维护者，她焦虑迫切地想和丈夫结合、怀孕并生下自己的孩子，不仅被完美规训、更将传递规训视作己任，她为维拉的行为感到不齿和恐惧。

这部04年的片子至今仍然有参考和警示意义。我理解在西方社会里abortion等于扼杀生命和「after you」的男本位思想一样是深深刻在文化基因里的，和宗教信仰和历史沿革不无关系，我理解这一切，也看得到西方社会的进步与改变，但我仍觉得有点悲伤。毕竟，迈克李二十年前就拍出了监狱里两位二犯的“女囚”和维拉一样为女性抗争着并且坚持抗争着这样的结局，但至今这些问题仍然悬在我们头顶，西方社会并没有根本改变，下一个二十年或许还是如此。

还好这部片子温暖细碎的日常里流淌着爱，我看着没那么难受。即使是战后带着创伤蹒跚前行的家庭、即使这场危机或许让一家人就要迎来美好曙光的希望破碎，但我看着最后那个镜头，心里总觉得这个家是联结的、维拉出狱后或许还会坚持做下去。很敬佩迈克李可以拍这样的题材，也很赞叹我们的乌姆里奇教授能贡献如此精湛的演技，非常非常有感染力，警察来了之后大量特写镜头全靠她的细微表情和台词功底来传达情绪。艾美达斯丹顿做得真的太好了！

今天上午还搜索着有没有人造子宫的可能性来解救女性生育的痛苦。毕竟想要实现男女平等，就跨越不了女性在生理特征方面的特殊性。

早前追着有着深层次矛盾的电影看，现在冷不防的看到vera好心办坏事最后得到惩罚的结局，心里也好似便秘一般，憋闷闷的。要说这世界除了钱，就数性的问题最难办。

电影发生在二战后，失足少女们甚至是不少已婚妇女选择堕胎，可法令明确不允许个人以何种理由给他人流产。一个整日里无偿为邻里奔忙脸上笑哈哈的老妇人被判监禁两年半，手术是她做的，温柔安慰需要帮助女生的也是她。

到底谁做错了，谁有罪？🙊

Film Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

For many years now, English filmmaker Mike Leigh has explored the lives of the working poor with unflinching honesty and an uncanny ability to respect his characters' idiosyncrasies and the feisty ways they struggle to survive against the odds. In this incredibly moving film, he hits high stride in his career and delivers a masterwork that is all of one piece. The ensemble performances are remarkable for their realism; production design accurately conveys the dark alleys and shabby apartments of poor neighborhoods; and the string score by Andrew Dickinson is tender and evocative.

The film is set in London in the early 1950s. Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) lives with Stan (Phil Davis), her husband of 27 years. She is a domestic who cleans the houses of well-to-do ladies; he works as a mechanic in a shop run by his brother Frank (Adrian Scarborough). They have two grown children, both still living with them in their small tenement flat: Sid (Daniel Mays), a gregarious apprentice tailor, and Ethel (Alex Kelly), a shy factory worker.

Vera, as her husband puts it, has a heart of gold. Although she has plenty of household chores on top of her job, she finds time to regularly visit two shut-ins, one of whom is her cranky mother. Vera, who hums methodically, is a cheerful person who believes that a special grace in life is to savor a good cup of tea, no matter what the occasion. Noticing that Reg (Eddie Marsan), is a lonely fellow, she invites him over for dinner. Everyone in the family is pleased when he takes an interest in Ethel.

Another aspect of her care and compassion for others is her secret mission to help poor pregnant women who are not willing or able to give birth to a child. She works closely with Lily (Ruth Sheen), a friend since childhood, who sells household goods on the black market and finds women seeking abortions. These poor girls, married women with too many children and wives who have gotten in trouble, have no choices other than to throw themselves on the mercy of Vera, who does not charge them anything for her loving ministrations. Their lack of options is contrasted with the situation of Susan (Sally Hawkins), the daughter of one of the rich women Vera works for. After she is raped on a date and becomes pregnant, she sees a private doctor and a psychiatrist who arrange for a calm and safe abortion at a discreet clinic for a substantial fee.

Vera's secret missions of mercy come to an end when a young woman she treated develops life-threatening complications. The police find out about Vera and Lily and are swift to apprehend them (abortion wasn't legalized in England until 1967). Much to Vera's dismay, this all takes place on the same day that they are celebrating the announced wedding of Reg and Ethel. Frank and his materialistic wife Joyce (Heather Craney) are at the party with them. Their good news that Joyce is pregnant gets lost in the confusion when the police arrive and question Vera. Anger and shock are two of the emotions experienced by Stan, Sid, and Ethel when they learn the secret Vera has kept from them for nearly 20 years.

When was the last time you saw a movie that focused on the compassion and genuine goodness of a person who doesn't live for herself but always puts others first? Look no further. Mike Leigh has created an emotionally resonant drama around the little acts of kindness that all the world's religions agree is at the center of what it means to be a fully developed human being. Vera accepts the punishment that is meted out to her, but then many good and self-sacrificing individuals have suffered for what they believe in without complaint. Vera Drake is one of the best films of 2004, and Mike Leigh is to be commended for making a hero out of a kindly woman who does her best to help the less fortunate around her.

首先看到豆瓣把本片贴上犯罪片，这样的标签和影片中的审判法官有什么区别？？

故事背景设于二战后英国，战后重建及社会秩序恢复的初期。然而道德宗教的束缚，社会偏见的绑架及法律的滞后给女性带来的隐形压迫无处不在。各种机构的构建参与决策都是由男人们把持，包括堕胎这种关乎女性自己身体的事。富裕家族的大小姐需要花光自己的全部积蓄，饱受精神科医生的羞辱拷问才可以如愿以偿。

善良的Vera身体力行的践行着最女权的事，她本能的知道生育孩子是女性自己的选择而非社会或家庭强制。片末她入狱后发现并不是她一个人在做这件事，而是群体性社会性的问题得不到解决才会使堕胎演变成地下模式。因循守旧禁锢的是更多父权社会下男人们的思想，不管他们有多位高权重。

很多评论讨论边缘人群，战后失去家人的人不是边缘人群，堕胎的女性不是边缘人群，

要质疑的是各种非人性化法律法规的合理性。

psychiatrist的问询令人如若针毡