The Lady in the Van

Dir: Nicholas Hytner

2015

*****

The Lady in the Van is a unique and quirky story that could have only come from the mind of the great Alan Bennett. It would have worked had the lady in the van been a metaphor or a representation of a side of the author (which I thought she was at first) but there is something quite refreshing about the fact that she was in fact a real person. I say that because The Lady in the Van is first and foremost an Alan Bennett play, and Alan Bennett plays are generally about Alan Bennett. The Lady in the Van is no exception but it is amazing what you can learn about a person through someone else. Nicholas Hytner does a great job of adapting Bennett's style which has been fairly samey in the past. Separating the author from the protagonist/narrator as he does is a work of genius but he makes it look simple and effortless and it is very easy to watch. Promotion for the film was almost insultingly misleading. Bennett is a celebrated author with fans around the globe, he and director Nicholas Hytner clearly have loyalty and friendship at heart and decided to give each actor from their previous collaboration The History Boys a short cameo each. One of those actors is James Cordon, popular among many, excluding me. Cordon is in the film for less than thirty second but he has equal billing to key players and a place on the film's poster. The film's trailer made it look like a live-action Wallace and Gromit adaptation rather than the comedy-drama masterpiece that it is. Thankfully nothing else has been effected my meddling producers and marketing people, the adaptation is solid (why mess with a winning formula) and it is a joy from start to finish. Alex Jennings' portrayal of Alan Bennett is quite extraordinary, to the point that I thought he was more like Alan Bennett than Alan Bennett is. Maggie Smith has played Miss Mary Shepherd/Margaret Fairchild/'The lady in the van before, once in the original stage play (for which she was nominated for an Olivier award) and once on the radio. It's hard to see any other actor in the part, she is absolutely sublime in the role and it is, in my opinion, her best performance to date. I love the way Bennett wanders into fantasy along the story, always pointing out the scenes that didn't actually happen, reminding the viewer that it is his story and he can do with it as he pleases. He says as much of how he can portray Mary/Margaret now that she is dead, and after giving the audience a warts and all description of her he finally gives her the most elaborate of exits that she always dreamed of. Beauty and deadpan don't usually work together but here they dance, which is pure Alan Bennett.