A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway.A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway.A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 8 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie was shot in the actual house on the street where the events took place, Gloucester Crescent in Camden Town. Some of the same people still lived there when the star prop arrived, decades later.
- GoofsMargaret/Mary is shown parking her new Commer van in the drive of Alan Bennett's house and she pulls up on the handbrake in the middle of the van, where a handbrake would normally be. In fact Commer vans had their handbrake to the right of the driver's seat between the seat and the door - not between the two front seats.
- Quotes
Rufus: Sorry, you can't park here.
Miss Shepherd: No, I've had guidance. This is where it should go.
Rufus: Guidance? Who from?
Miss Shepherd: The Virgin Mary. I spoke to her yesterday. She was outside the post office.
Rufus: What does she know about parking?
- Crazy creditsDuring the first part of the credits, a young Margaret can be seen playing the piano at her concert in King's Hall.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Alan Bennett at 80: Bennett Meets Hytner (2014)
- SoundtracksPiano Concerto No. 1 In E Minor, OP. 11
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Clare Hammond and BBC Concert Orchestra
Orchestra Leader Charles Mutter
[The principal piano piece that recurs throughout the film is Chopin's Piano Concerto 1, using both the slow middle (second) movement "romanza" and the quick final (third) movement "rondo". Alfred Cortot was especially associated with playing Chopin's piano oeuvre.]
Featured review
Like all the best English comedies, the humor in "The Lady in the Van" is founded on character and in eccentricity but then we should expect nothing less from the pen of the great Alan Bennett. This is mostly a true story we are told and it's the story of a very eccentric lady and one, or is it two, quite eccentric men. The lady is Mary, or is it Margaret, Shepherd who might be considered homeless were it not for the van she lives in. The somewhat eccentric man is Bennett himself. I said two because in this case we get two Bennetts for the price of one, Alan the writer and Alan the householder and they are both played by Alex Jennings.
Miss Shepherd really existed and she's the lady who, at Bennett's request. moved her van from the street outside his house, where she had parked it, into his driveway. Initially she was due to stay a few months but ended up parking there for 15 years. Bennett turned the story of her stay first into a novella and then into a play and now, under the direction of Nicholas Hytner, into a film and a beautiful job he's made of it.
Of course, for the purpose of dramatic and comic effect Mr Bennett has taken liberties, adding bits here and there including a delightful phantasmagorical ending. He also surrounds himself and Miss Shepherd with a host of other characters, some almost as eccentric as they are. Recreating the part she played on stage Maggie Smith is magnificent in the title role. Of course, you could say Maggie has been playing variations of Jean Brodie for the past 45 years. It's easy to see Miss Brodie in the put-downs of the Dowager, Countess of Grantham had Jean been born into a different generation or class and it's not much of a step to see Miss Shepherd as an older, very much down-on-her-luck Jean Brodie. A third Oscar is certainly not out of the question.
Jennings, too, has Bennett off to a tee and there's lovely support from the likes of Frances De La Tour, Roger Allam and Deborah Findlay as sundry neighbors while the entire cast of Bennett's "The History Boys" manage to pop up in one form or another. If it feels slighter than some of Bennett's other offerings it may simply be because here he is writing about someone we would probably pass in the street without looking twice at. Of course, if on meeting Miss Shepherd in the street we knew what we know now, we might indeed give her a second or even a third glance; we might even invite her to move her van into our driveway. Slight? Not a bit of it.
Miss Shepherd really existed and she's the lady who, at Bennett's request. moved her van from the street outside his house, where she had parked it, into his driveway. Initially she was due to stay a few months but ended up parking there for 15 years. Bennett turned the story of her stay first into a novella and then into a play and now, under the direction of Nicholas Hytner, into a film and a beautiful job he's made of it.
Of course, for the purpose of dramatic and comic effect Mr Bennett has taken liberties, adding bits here and there including a delightful phantasmagorical ending. He also surrounds himself and Miss Shepherd with a host of other characters, some almost as eccentric as they are. Recreating the part she played on stage Maggie Smith is magnificent in the title role. Of course, you could say Maggie has been playing variations of Jean Brodie for the past 45 years. It's easy to see Miss Brodie in the put-downs of the Dowager, Countess of Grantham had Jean been born into a different generation or class and it's not much of a step to see Miss Shepherd as an older, very much down-on-her-luck Jean Brodie. A third Oscar is certainly not out of the question.
Jennings, too, has Bennett off to a tee and there's lovely support from the likes of Frances De La Tour, Roger Allam and Deborah Findlay as sundry neighbors while the entire cast of Bennett's "The History Boys" manage to pop up in one form or another. If it feels slighter than some of Bennett's other offerings it may simply be because here he is writing about someone we would probably pass in the street without looking twice at. Of course, if on meeting Miss Shepherd in the street we knew what we know now, we might indeed give her a second or even a third glance; we might even invite her to move her van into our driveway. Slight? Not a bit of it.
- MOscarbradley
- Nov 15, 2015
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Lady in the Van
- Filming locations
- 23 Gloucester Crescent, London, Greater London, England, UK(Alan Bennett's house where the events actually occurred)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,021,175
- Gross worldwide
- $41,387,687
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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