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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...