The Lady in the Van

[projekktor id=’22973′]

The Lady in the Van is a British comedy directed by Nicholas Hytner (The History Boys). Alan Bennett adapted his West End stage play for the screen with Dame Maggie Smith reprising her role as the titular lady. The film also stars Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Frances de la Tour, and Roger Allam.

Alan Bennett’s story is based on the true story of Miss Shepherd (played by a magnificent Maggie Smith), a woman of uncertain origins who “temporarily” parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favor becomes a relationship that will change both their lives. Filmed on the street and in the house where Bennett and Miss Shepherd lived all those years, acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The History Boys) to bring this rare and touching portrait to the screen.

The main character is based on an actual woman who lived in Bennett’s driveway, but he claims she didn’t interfere with his life all that much. “She kept herself very much to herself,” Bennett explains. “But when I was writing or trying to write, it was very often just staring out of the window. And the van was in my eye line. Her day would begin with the doors of the van being theatrically flung wide and then various bags, contents nameless, would be hurled out. Two white legs appeared and she would come out backwards. I got used to all that, and of the sound of the van door. And I was slightly accommodating to her in the sense that I didn’t make a row at night if I was coming in.”

The Lady in the Van is rated PG.