**Spoiler Alert**
Director: Nicholas Hytner/Starring: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, Gwen Taylor and Frances de la Tour
Adapted from the stage play of the same name, The Lady in the Van tells what the opening subtitles refers to as a mostly true story. Famed British playwright Alan Bennett was a character in his own play and is now again in director Nicholas Hytner's film adaptation. The film version is a confluence of considerable talents; Bennett, filmmaker Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George, The Crucible) and Dame Maggie Smith, who always seems to be brilliant in whatever she's cast.
The play is based on Bennett's own experiences; as he became a kind of host to a homeless woman named Margaret Shepherd (Maggie Smith); who parked her shabby van in various street locations in Camden Town, London until it came to rest in the playwright's driveway during the 70s' and 80s'.
When the film begins, we see Margaret eluding a police officer on a rural road after we hear what sounds like a terrible accident. We never see the accident itself nor do we know any specifics; we only see Margaret elude the police car that gives chase to her van. The accident, and the fact that Margaret takes flight, assume a greater significance as the story unfolds.
Later, we see Margaret living in the same van in a street in Camden. Her shabby, unwashed appearance and her van's ragged condition rapidly become an eyesore for the residents of the street; particularly for playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings), who has just purchased a house. Warned about Margaret's vexing tendency to squat her van where she will, Bennett becomes well-acquainted with the old woman after she imposes on him to use his restroom. The disgust Bennett feels is made manifest in the following scene when we see him give his toilet a thorough scrub-down.
Who is this woman who is curt, ill-mannered and thinks nothing of venting her hostility on the residents of the street? Bennett's story gives us some idea and in doing so, shows us a troubled woman with a fascinating past whose life is one of self-imposed squalor. But as talented a writer Bennett may be, his story--and Margaret--fail to hold my attention or sympathy. Though Smith plays the dickens out of the character and though certain aspects of Margaret's life are interesting, the character nevertheless remains a noxious pest who demands everyone accommodate her whims and overlook her accumulated filth. I found my patience sorely tried as I watched Margaret rage at her neighbors and everyone who dared to approach her van.
Equally annoying is Bennett's doppelganger, who he talks to incessantly. As it becomes clear Bennett intends to make Margaret the subject of a play, his other begins to express his qualms.
As the story moves along; Bennett writes and tends to his plays on London's West End while also enduring Margaret's difficult personality and habits. But he also begins to learn about her past. He discovers she once drove an ambulance in World War II and was an accomplished pianist who studied under a world class musician in Paris. The darker part of her past comes to light when he also learns Margaret was a nun in a convent, where her musical abilities were sternly suppressed by intolerant nuns.
But the film isn't only about Margaret but Bennett himself. We see the difficulties in his own life as he is forced to commit his aging mother to a nursing home when she becomes ill and stricken with dementia. One of the film's bitter ironies is Bennett becoming Margaret's caretaker while his mother suffers from want of her son's attention.
Bennett's romantic status becomes an minor issue as it becomes abundantly clear that Bennett seeks a man to fill an emotional void. Male colleagues from the theater and strange men become a common sight at his home. The men sometimes peer into Margaret's van, only to be given an angry brush-off.
What was supposed to be a temporary stay in Bennett's driveway becomes a long-term, residential nesting as months stretch to years. As a result, Bennett becomes to understand if not condone Margaret's bad behavior; including her slovenly ways, which become increasingly vile as time goes by. Bennett is appalled to find feces in his driveway, an indignity he bears with superhuman equanimity. He also puts up with frequent visits by a social worker, who brings Margaret supplies and chides Bennett for not being more charitable.
The accident we hear but do not see at the beginning of the film becomes a source of almost crippling guilt as Margaret's frequent visits to confession fail to offer assuage her conscience. The guilt is compounded by frequent visits of the officer (Jim Broadbent) who witnessed Margaret flee the scene of the crime and who also shakes her down for hush money. What actually occurred during the so-called accident is finally revealed near the film's latter half.
In getting to know Margaret, Bennett also becomes aware of other aspects of her life, including her brother, who has had difficulties of his own dealing with his troublesome sister.
Bennett manages to bring Margaret's story-and a significant part of his own-to a neat conclusion and in the end we see that, in spite of the the problems she visited on Bennett, he acknowledges her impact on his life, which is more significant than he imagined.
I can understand why Bennett was inspired to write about Margaret but I have to admit, I found the film--and her--irritating. I give credit to Bennett and his neighbors for their ability to tolerate her presence but I found her insufferable beyond endurance. I spent most of the film feeling impatient with Margaret. There are charming pests and ne'er do wells in cinema; people who aren't necessarily likable but are nevertheless stimulating company but Margaret ain't one of them. Bennett wants us to find this homeless woman, with her complicated past, compelling. But even Maggie Smith's terrific performance couldn't rescue Margaret from being an irritant. The fact that she seeks absolution from a church that for all intents and purposes squelched her musical talents does make for more interesting irony but there is little else about Margaret I would want to know about. But though I found the film to be tiresome, I might recommend it to someone if for nothing more than to see Maggie Smith.
I didn't care--as stated earlier--for his eccentric use of a Bennett-double, which didn't really help illuminate his interior life.
The Lady in the Van probably plays better onstage than on a movie screen. After all, Bennett's dramatic medium is the theater, not the cinema, and plays seldom make a successful transition to the big screen. Some stories can only be told in live theater; Hytner's is one of them.
