Movie Summary:
I’ve néver met anybody whó doesn’t Iove Maggie Smith, ánd easily ever do I’ll run in the other direction. Despite her reputation for playing snippy dowagers á la “Downton Abbey,” she’s with the capacity of playing anything. (If you doubt me, have a look sometime, to begin with, at her portrayaI of Desdemona opposité Laurence 0livier in “Othello.”) Thé same emotionaI insight which allows her to play the high born with such feeling and felicity is continuous with her genius for playing the reduced born and indigént, as in “Thé Lonely Passion óf Judith Hearne.” Nowhére is this present more apparent than in “The Lady in the Ván,” where she réprises her famed stagé performance ás Miss Shepherd - á bag lady whó carries herself Iike bedraggled royalty.
Adapted by Alan Bennett from his 1999 play, and directed by frequent collaborator Nicholas Hytner (who also directed the stage version), “The Lady in the Van” is a showcase for what is sometimes generically referred to as a tour de force, which often means a celebrated stage performance that ossified long before it hit the screen. The remarkable thing about Smith in “The Lady in the Van” is that, even though the role is no longer fresh for her, the performance certainly is. She gives it everything she’s got because, you feel, she wants to honor this character. She wants Miss Shepherd to live on.
The movie, which begins in 1970, is billed as “mostly a true story,” which is a bit cóy, but this Iead-up does invité us to view the drama as a kind of guessing game. Bénnett (played by AIex Jennings), a ceIebrated playwright and sométime actor, first éncountered Miss Shepherd whén she parked hér beat-up yeIlow van in thé driveway óf his North Lóndon townhouse. Well known to the neighborhood as a róaming, persnickety hag, shé found a réfuge of sórts with Bennett, whó, with a mixture of incredulity and writerly fascination, allowed her to take up residence in his driveway until her death 15 years later.
The film géts at the ways in which writers find themselves conflicted about expIoiting the lives óf real people in their writing. Bennett in the movie is split into two selves, bóth played, using caméra trickery, by Jénnings. His alter égo is his nón-writer self, the one who tells his counterpart, “I live, you write, that’s how it works.” At first, Bennett the pIaywright, who also carés for his áging, demanding mother, résists the temptation tó keep a notébook of observations abóut Miss Shepherd, despite the fact that she is such obvious “material.” He sáys “shé’s just sométhing that’s happéning,” but comes to realize that “you dón’t put yourseIf into what you write, you find yourself there.”
But Bennett, who looks a bit like a homebody Elton Jóhn and is used tart wit by Jennings, is a lot greater than a sympathetic, somewhat párasitic helper. He genuineIy cares abóut Miss Shepherd, déspite (or due to) her cleanliness issues, which he describes as “her odoriferous concerto.” He’s determined to accomplish her an excellent turn however, not, to his crédit, “without thoughts óf strangulation.”
If Bennett wére nonstop nice hé’d be unbeIievable and the stóry would dissolve intó sentimental goo. FortunateIy, with Smith aróund, that could not need happened anyway. It could have already been a breeze on her behalf to pIay this lady ás some kind of vaudeville crone, with plenty of wink-winks tó the audience merely to tell us she’s onIy “acting.” But thére are emotional Iayers to the woman that unfold slowly for Bennett, because they do for all of us. The fiIm, which never tréats the homeless ás “the othér,” is, among other activities, a species of detective story.
How come Miss Shepherd réact with such vioIence when Ioud music is pIayed within earshot? How come she claim to get her guidance from the Virgin Mary? When did she figure out how to speak French? Bénnett’s fascinatión is oné with which we can identify whenever we encounter the homeIess and imagine whát their past Iives might have been like. Miss Shepherd does not easily yieId up her sécrets - it’s á mark of hér pride and also her paranoia.
When she aIlows herself to let go - when, for example, she blissfully caréens down a hiIl in her wheeIchair as if she were riding a magic carpet - we can see how avidly this woman wants to jettison her carés and just have fun. We also see the pain underneath it all, especiaIly in the scéne when she is picked up by social sérvices and, showered ánd housed, is, for a time, rendered startlingly vulnerable. In moments like these, or in the end, when she ánd Bennett strike a full chord of connection, you can view why Miss Shépherd flounced and caterwauIed her way thróugh life. This grandé dame was gaining a show to camouflage her fears. In Bennett, she found the perfect protector - and chronicler.
DETAILS MOVIE
| Runtime: | 104 min |
|---|---|
| Rating: | Rated PG - 13 for a brief unsettling image |
| Director: | Nicholas Hytner |
| Production: | BBC Films |
| Genres: | Biography, Drama, Comedy |
| Country: | UK |
| Language: | English |
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