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Showing posts from January, 2017

Homeless on screen: The Lady in the Van

This is a good film which made me feel very uncomfortable indeed.  I often like to read a few reviews of a film after I've seen it, especially if it has impacted me in some way.  I find myself quite perplexed by the Telegraph reviewer who dubbed this film 'cosily enjoyable'.  It's a good film, but cosy is not a word I'd choose in describing it. I thought it would be both cosy and enjoyable.  I saw the trailer when The Lady in the Van came out in 2015, thought it looked a delightful comedy romp, and made a mental note to see it.  It's a dramatisation of the true story of a destitute old lady, Mrs Shepherd, who lived in a camper van in the driveway of playwright Alan Bennett's north London house for 15 years.  When it popped up on iPlayer over Christmas I was pleased. But this story is a bit too close to the bone for me.  We actually ended up watching it in two sessions as we found it so depressing.  Unfortunately we were eating dinner during one particular