All Quotes

"It don't seem fair. Look at my mom: six of us in two rooms. It's all right if you're rich, but if you can't feed them, you can't love them, can you?"

"Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake"

"Phil Davis - Stan Drake"

"Daniel Mays - Sid Drake"

"Alex Kelly - Ethel Drake"

"Sandra Voe - Vera's Mother"

"Eddie Marsan - Reg"

"Adrian Scarborough - Frank Drake"

"Heather Craney - Joyce Drake"

"Sally Hawkins - Susan"

"Ruth Sheen - Lily"

"Lesley Sharp - Jessie Barnes"

"Sam Troughton - David"

"Anna Keaveney - Nellie"

"Leo Bill - Ronnie"

"Gerard Monaco - Kenny"

"Liz White - Pamela Barnes"

"Peter Wight - Det. Inspector Webster"

"Martin Savage - Det. Sergeant Vickers"

"Jim Broadbent - Judge"

"Simon Chandler - Mr. Wells"

"Lesley Manville - Mrs. Wells"

"Marion Bailey - Mrs. Fowler"

"Anthony O'Donnell - Mr. Sharp"

"Carly Pope as Kris"

"Kristin Booth as Abby"

"Josh Dean as Andrew"

"Sonja Bennett as Mia"

"Josh Cooke as Eric"

"Diora Baird as Jamie"

"Callum Blue as Ken"

"Ennis Esmer as Gord"

"Peter Oldring as Dave"

"Natalie Lisinska as Inez"

"A comedy about coming together."

"Will books, as we know them, come to an end? Yes, absolutely, within 25 years the digital revolution will bring about the end of paper books. But more importantly, s and will mean the end of . Ebooks, in the future, will be written by first-timers, by teams, by speciality subject enthusiasts and by those who were already established in the era of the paper book. The digital revolution will not emancipate writers or open up a new era of creativity, it will mean that writers offer up their work for next to nothing or for free. Writing, as a profession, will cease to exist."

"We like to think we're free in the ; that we're beyond the forces of advertising and social manipulation by market forces. But there is a new — the rise of 'the single person' as model consumer — that presents us with a paradox. What we once thought of as radical — staying single - may now be reactionary. The long-term relationship, like the job-for-life, is fast being deregulated into short term, temporary arrangements with no promise of commitment, as sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has been warning us for over a decade. It's hard for two people to be self-employed, with no promise of a stable future, together. Capitalism now wants us to be single."

"Communal living: Plato recommended it, 19th-century religious separatists tried it, anarchists and hippies spectacularly failed at it. Attempting to live with no an . It's supposed to erase greed and create equality. You'd think that this important subject would have created a vast body of literature, but you'd be wrong. Novels about s are very rare and this might be because the ideal of "the communal" is at loggerheads with the bias towards "the individual" in the novel. But there are some gems, which are important documents of a noble, failed, social experiment."

"Both in the theatre and on television, I have often drawn on Giorgio Gaber's clear and witty insights: from Il potere dei più buoni to Il conformista, Gaber has always come to my rescue. Gaber and Luporini's insight into human weaknesses is extremely sharp. Their ability to see far ahead, to write about and anticipate the thinking of many, makes them incredibly relevant today."

"My solidarity goes out to Silvio Berlusconi.* When have you ever seen a journalist ask the head of government disrespectful questions? A good journalist doesn't take the initiative; a good journalist writes what is dictated to them. (Referring to Silvio Berlusconi's defamation lawsuit against the newspaper 'La Repubblica', after he signed the appeal in defence of the newspaper)."

"But if Renzi did all this to Letta, who was his friend, what can he do to us Italians, who he doesn't even know?"

"By now, the whole of Italy is a GMO country: Genetically Mouldy Organism."

"[...] In this country, wherever you look, there's always a conflict of interest involving relatives, isn't there? If it's not Boschi's father, it's Lupi's son; if it's not Cancellieri's son, it's Fini's brother-in-law; and if it's not Fini's brother-in-law, it's Alemanno's entire family tree. But why don't we just appoint ministers who don't have families? For Home Affairs, Remi; for Foreign Affairs, Oliver Twist; for Constitutional Reform, Bambi; I don't know, for Infrastructure, Heidi. Ah, no. Better not Heidi, in case it turns out her grandfather was vice president of Monte dei Paschi for twenty years."

"Regarding the Cirinnà bill, I said "civil unions", but in Italy, they're not called that because the law refers to them as "specific social formations". How romantic. [...] Because Catholics don't want us to say "marriage", they've changed the name. Do you want to have the ceremony? Yes, you can have the ceremony, but you have to call it an "elegant parental gathering". The cake? [...] Don't call it a cake; call it a "puppeteered layered cream creation"."

"[...] Family Day defends the traditional family, the one that comes directly from the Holy Scriptures, [...] like the family of Abraham, Abraham's family, who wanted to sacrifice his son Isaac. No, all right, let's put Abraham's family to one side for a moment, shall we… So, um, the family… like Jacob's family. Jacob, who had four wives. No, let's put that one to one side for a moment… And… Ah, well, there's always the Joseph and Mary family. Joseph and Mary: he was seventy and she was sixteen. And do we really want to talk about how they conceived their son, huh? But you know what... off the top of my head, I can't think of that many traditional families in the Bible..."

"And what about Rutelli, who created the Terzo Polo? Aren't you coming to see him? But Rutelli, why did you create the Terzo Polo? 'Because one in two Italians asked me to.' Why do I always meet the other one in two Italians? (p. 7)"

"Ignazio La Russa, a man who hasn't even tried the sunbed, has gone straight for the napalm. Ignazio La Russa is one of the jewels of Italialand, isn't he? He's a mythological figure; he's not even a human being: he's half man, half intercom – he's the 'Ignaziotauro'. Since he went to war with Libya, he hasn't understood a thing; he's as happy as a clam. Badoglio also appeared to him in a dream and told him: 'Go, Ignazio, take Libya back for us.' (p. 10)"

"But at times, Berlusconi is great. Like when he said that wonderful thing: 'Yes, it's true, I paid Ruby, but only to stop her from working as a prostitute.' I was expecting her to say, 'Yes, I gave it to him, but only to stop him going with prostitutes.' Do you get it? He paid her so she wouldn't have to work as a prostitute. It's like paying a tiler, but without getting them to fit the bathroom. (p. 13)"

"Imagine what 'Bella Ciao' would be like today. It would be a Gipsy Kings compilation [...] 'One morning | I woke up | oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao.' | | One morning | I woke up and went | to Decathlon! | A T-shirt, six ninety | I'll get three, I'll get three, I'll get three, three, three, | and the avalanche backpack, | plus three ice axes and the sleeping bag!” (p. 27)"

"Treasure Planet"