The Lady in the Van

The Lady in the Van is the mostly true story of a British playwright and author Alan Bennett who lived for a time around 1974 in the well know literary community of Camden Town, London, where he became acquainted with an eccentric homeless woman living in a van outside his house on Gloucester Crescent.

The peaceful stone-walled, hedged and gated streets of this well-kept cultured community of old converted lodging homes was a popular area to live for many famous British authors, playwrights and artists of the time. Known for its quiet family atmosphere, the residence of Gloucester Crescent were not prepared and quite perturbed by an uninvited guest who took up residence on their front doorsteps one day.

The dubious guest was a smelly ill-natured elderly homeless woman living out of her van and moving from house to house as she pleased once she outstayed her welcome. Teased and bullied by neighborhood children, Miss Mary Shepherd, as she came to be known, eventually sheltered under the watchful gaze of the shy timid writer of plays Alan Bennett.

As Alan sat quietly contemplating in his cozy study writing and looking through his bay window, the foul bag lady in the van rolled into his view one day and became a permanent fixture of his daily life.

Maggie Smith, known for her role as the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, plays the humorless acerbic lady in the van with biting realism and subtle vulnerability. No one would ever guess she was once a sensitive musical prodigy who became deeply suspicious of and hurt by a callous uncaring society.

The story is told from the perspective of the writer Alan Bennett, played by Alex Jennings, who is shown in the film as two distinct personalities. One of a person who is withdrawn and immersed in his inner world of books and writing, and the other, a social being who must interact with the chaotic world and people around him.

The Lady in the Van was filmed on location in the actual street and house where Alan and Miss Shepherd lived back in the 70s and 80s. Living apart yet always in earshot of each other like roommates who tolerate one another, but always wondering when she will move on to the next house.

Alan never got to know Miss Shepherd’s history while she was alive as she was just a homeless person to him like so many that we encounter on a daily basis, and she was difficult to get along with. Some of us are charitable enough to give them a little change or food but most of us just try to ignore homeless people, afraid to get too close.

It was quite extraordinary that the people of Gloucester Crescent were able to tolerate her and sometimes help Miss Shepherd for as long as they did, even becoming an accepted part of the community, especially considering that the lady in the van was not a particularly kind person. In fact by all accounts she was quite cantankerous.

The Lady in the Van film however is an enjoyable good-natured and touching comedy, thanks to the way that Alan wrote about her and himself in his diaries and the humorous sensitive direction of filmmaker Nicholas Hytner.

JP

My annual review of 2015 film year

2015 was an exceptionally rich and diverse year in film for big Hollywood films, and for smaller budget Indie and foreign films by first time or new directors. 

We saw a new Star Wars film reach box office heights not seen since Avatar (2009). We also saw terrific small budget films by new directors like Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang.

Unique foreign dramas were especially exciting this year. If you are a finicky film goer who doesn’t like reading subtitles, you either missed out on some of the best films of the year, or you decided to take the plunge and discover a whole new world of wonder with award winning films like Oscar nominated French/Turkish film Mustang, Cannes Palm D’Or winner Dheepan, Tunisia’s gripping As I Open My Eyes, Argentina’s Silver Lion winner El Clan, Chile’s El Club, Iceland’s official Oscar entry Rams, Brazil’s official Oscar entry The Second Mother, Spain’s Goya award winning Truman, and Hungary’s Oscar winner for best foreign film Son of Saul.

Indie films were also amazingly heartfelt this year especially Sundance award winner Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, - Indie favorite Tangerine, a film that was shot entirely with iPhones about the trans-gender community in L.A., - Ex Machina, a unique low budget Sci-fi thriller about A.I. technology, and award winning Irish/Canadian productions Brooklyn and Room.

Big Hollywood productions that made an impression with their inspiring stories and stunning visuals were; The Martian, multi Oscar winning Mad Max: Fury Road, Sicario, The Revenant, Spotlight, The Big Short, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Documentaries were again a huge force in cinema this year with eye-opening, thought-provoking films like Oscar winner AMY, He Named Me Malala, Hurt, This Changes Everything and Cartel Land to name a few.

Of the 85 films I saw this year, the list below represents the films that stood out for me with links to my reviews highlighted in orange. If you haven’t seen these films yet, put them on your ‘to watch’ list and expand your horizons.

Title                                                                       Director                                   Country

Drama:

Clouds of Sils Maria                                                Olivier Assayas                         France/US

Brooklyn                                                                 John Crowley                            UK/Ireland

Mustang                                                                 Deniz Gamze Ergüven               Turkey/France

Dheepan                                                                 Jacques Audiard                       France

As I Open My Eyes                                                 Leyla Bouzid                             Tunisia/France

El Clan (The Clan)                                                    Pablo Trapero                            Argentina/Spain

Rams                                                                     Grímur Hákonarson                          Iceland

Neon Bull                                                                Gabriel Mascaro                       Brazil

Truman                                                                   Cesc Gay                                 Spain/Argentina

Taxi Tehran                                                             Jafar Panahi                               Iran
Room                                                                     Lenny Abrahamson                    Ireland/Canada

Spotlight                                                                 Tom McCarthy

The Big Short                                                          Adam McKay

Son of Saul                                                             László Nemes                           Hungary

Comedy/Feel-Good/Romance:

While We’re Young                                                   Noah Baumbach

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl                                  Alfonso Gomez-Rejon  

Tangerine                                                                 Sean Baker

The Second Mother                                                   Anna Muylaert                           Brazil

Northern Soul                                                           Elaine Constantine                     UK

The Grump                                                               Dome Karukoski                       Finland

Action/Suspense:
Mad Max: Fury Road                                                 George Miller                            Australia/US

American Ultra                                                           Nima Nourizadeh

Sicario                                                                      Denis Villeneuve

The Revenant                                                            Alejandro González Iñárritu

Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

Ex Machina                                                                Alex Garland                             UK

The Martian                                                                Ridley Scott

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens                J.J. Abrams

Animation:

When Marnie Was There                                              Hiromasa Yonebayashi              Studio Ghibli

Inside Out                                                                   Pete Docter, Ronaldo del Carmen  Pixar/Disney

Boy & the World                                                          Alê Abreu                                  Brazil

Documentary:

Cartel Land                                                                  Matthew Heineman

He Named Me Malala                                                   Davis Guggenheim

This Changes Everything                                               Avi Lewis

Meet the Patels                                                            Geeta Patel, Ravi Patel

AMY                                                                           Asif Kapadia

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble       Morgan Neville

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom                    Evgeny Afineevsky                    UK/Ukraine

What Happened, Miss Simone?                                     Liz Garbus