The Lady in the Van (starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings)

(Amazon UK link)

I watched ‘The Lady in the Van’ nearly three years ago when staying with my father. I thought it extremely well done, and eventually added it to my wishlist a few months ago, thinking my husband would enjoy it, and that I would like seeing it again. I was given it for Christmas, and we watched it last night.

While I remembered the overall story - an elderly woman living out of a van comes to stay in the driveway belonging to a writer, in the 1960s - I had forgotten most of the detail. My main reason for wanting to see it again, and share it, was the brilliance of Maggie Smith as the elderly Miss Shepherd.

The make-up artistes were also excellent; at the start of the film we see the ‘lady’ dressed fairly smartly, probably no more than about fifty. When we get to know her, parking in different places in a suburban London street, she is in her early sixties, and quite scruffy. By the time the film ends, she is almost eighty, and could pass for ninety or more.

It’s a character-based film, based on a true story written by Alan Bennett himself after Miss Shepherd dies. Or rather, on a ‘mostly-true’ story, as it becomes plain in the film that some poetic license has been taken. There’s a clever plot device meaning that there are two Alan Bennetts (ably played by Alex Jennings): one who lives life, and the other who sits at his typewriter, writing. They have a lot of interaction and dialogue, and one of the ‘extra’ features explains how this apparent doubling is done.

It’s not a film that would appear to have a lot of special visual effects (other than a somewhat surreal final scene). But as one of the graphics staff explains in the 'extra' feature, having two apparently natural instances of the same person was remarkably complex and painstaking to create.

I probably enjoyed this more the second time around, aware of the story and inevitable outcome, also aware of the underlying tensions in Bennet’s life: his own lifestyle was not something generally accepted at the time. I could also appreciate more the tension he felt between trying to care for his elderly - and increasingly confused - mother, while also fending off the feisty, often rude Miss Shepherd.

The acting is excellent, the pace just right, the locations authentic. It helped, I'm sure, that the crew were able to film in the actual house and front yard where the action happened. The way that Miss Shepherd's past life unfolds slowly - almost reluctantly at times - is beautifully and sensitively done.

We watched all the extras - none of them are particularly long and we both like seeing a few insights from directors and cast members. The real Alan Bennett, who was very involved in the script, gives insights too - in particular how much he appreciated Alex Jennings’ portrayal of him, originally in the theatre production based on his book. If he and Maggie Smith not been available or willing to make the film, it would not have gone ahead.

There are one or two instances of strong language, but they’re not gratuitous. There are strong hints of a violent incident, and also implications about Alan Bennett’s orientation and lifestyle, but nothing that would be considered explicit. The rating in the UK is 12A and in the US PG-13, and that seems about right to me. It wouldn’t be of much interest to anyone younger anyway.

Definitely recommended if you want something a bit different and like ‘mostly true’ stories.

You can read more about this film at the IMDb site: The Lady in the Van.   

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Lady in the Van (starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings)

(Amazon UK link)

I had seen mixed reviews on this film, and the DVD price was such that I didn’t want to add it to my wishlist yet, not sure if I would like it. On the other hand, anything that stars Maggie Smith is likely to be worth seeing, and my father has a copy, so when I was staying with him for a few days, he suggested we see it.

The ‘mostly true’ story is about the writer Alan Bennett, played as two separate halves of his character, by Alex Jennings. He lives in a quiet street in London, and meets the eccentric, elderly Miss Shepherd who lives in a van. She smells bad, she is ungrateful and rude, and she is clearly saddled with enormous guilt for something in her past.

Alan invites her to park her van on his driveway for a month or two, until she has decided where to live next… and stays there for fifteen years. During that time he becomes more and more frustrated with her, but can’t bring himself to turn her out. The film is about their relationship with its ups and downs, and while there are parts that are fictionalised, the basic plot is true.

I haven’t read the book, and am not sure I want to: while I usually like books better than films, I can’t believe that any prose could match up to Maggie Smith’s flawless performance. The direction, too, was excellent. Having two Alan Bennetts - one who writes, one who lives - works brilliantly. We gradually learn more and more about Miss Shepherd’s varied life and career - she is not a school drop-out or from an impoverished family, but once had a stunning career, and then spent some time as a nun, attempting to quell her personal ambitions and loves.

While the story itself is not all that riveting, Maggie Smith is wonderful and Alex Jennings makes an excellent foil. There were a few places when I almost laughed aloud, but most of the story is bittersweet, portraying realistically the oddly liberal attitudes of the 1970s, the harshness of some Catholic institutions, and the plight of the homeless.

Alongside the main story is a subplot about the tragedy of dementia. This is not related to Miss Shepherd, despite being bizarrely eccentric with some delusions of grandeur, but in the author’s own mother.

The ending could have been depressing, although inevitable, but reveals the last of the puzzles in the story, and ends in a surreal scene that, somehow, despite the ‘mostly true’ story, seems appropriate in its oddity.

Rated 12 (PG-13 in the US) and I think that’s about right. There are a couple of instances of ‘strong’ language, and several mild ones, and one unpleasantly gory (albeit brief) scene at the end, but nothing else that would be unsuitable for children, although I can’t imagine it would hold the interest of anyone under the age of about 15 or so. There are implications about Alan's lifestyle, but it took me about half the film to realise what was going on; there's nothing explicit, and nothing that most children would notice.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's DVD Reviews