The Lady in the Van

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Movie
German title The Lady in the Van
Original title The Lady in the Van
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 2015
length 104 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Nicholas Hytner
script Alan Bennett
production Nicholas Hytner,
Damian Jones ,
Kevin Loader
music George Fenton
camera Andrew Dunn
cut Tariq Anwar
occupation

The Lady in the Van is a British fiction film directed by Nicholas Hytner in 2015. The tragicomedy is based on the play of the same name by Alan Bennett , who also wrote the screenplay for the film version. The main roles are played by Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings . It tells the true story of Mary Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a derelict van in Bennett's driveway in London for 15 years. Smith has played Shepherd twice before: in the original 1999 play for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 2000, and in a 2009 BBC Radio 4 radio play adaptation.

Hytner has also directed the theater production at Queen's Theater in London, Bennett based his script on this play, which was nominated for Play of the Year at the Oliver Awards in 2000. The film was screened in the Special Presentations category at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival .

action

The Lady in the Van tells the true story of Alan Bennett 's strained friendship with Mary Shepherd, an eccentric homeless woman whom Bennett befriended in the 1970s and whom he later allowed to put her Bedford van in temporarily in the driveway of his house Turn off Camden . She stayed there for 15 years. As the story progresses, Bennet learns that Ms. Shepherd is actually Margaret Fairchild (died 1989), a former talented student of pianist Alfred Cortot . She had played Chopin at the Proms , wanted to become a nun, was put in an institution by her brother, fled, had an accident with her van that was hit by a motorcyclist and for which she felt guilty, was killed by a former police officer blackmailed and lived in fear of arrest.

actor

The main characters from Bennett's film The History Boys have cameo appearances , except for de la Tour, who has a larger role here, and Richard Griffiths , who passed away in 2013. These are: Samuel Barnett (as Donald), Samuel Anderson (as a Jehovah's Witness), Stephen Campbell Moore (as a doctor) Dominic Cooper (as a stage actor), James Corden (as a street vendor), Sacha Dhawan (as Dr. Malik), Andrew Knott (as an ambulance driver), Clive Merrison (as a man at confession), Jamie Parker (as a realtor) and Russell Tovey (as a man with an earring).

production

Emergence

In 2014, TriStar Pictures and the BBC decided to create a joint project from The Lady in the Van into a cinema adaptation of Alan Bennett's West End hit. TriStar had the worldwide distribution rights, while the BBC was allowed to show the film on British television first. The participation of Maggie Smith and Nicholas Hytner was announced at the same time as the film was announced, but they were signed on May 9 (which happened to be Bennett's 80th birthday). Both had previously worked with Bennett: Hytner in 1994 on King George and 2006 in the film adaptation of The History Boys , Smith played Miss Shepherd in 1999 in the theater production and in 2009 in the radio version of BBC Radio 4 .

Filming

The shooting began in October 2014 at 23 Gloucester Crescent The film was mainly in and around Bennett's old house in Camden Town rotated where the real Miss Shepherd spent 15 years in the driveway. According to Hytner, they "never thought of filming anywhere else," and it was "entertaining to see the look on the faces of local residents," many of whom were "there when the van took the turn." Filming was an exhausting experience for Maggie Smith because she was "locked in one or the other van most of the time." The van "wasn't the most comfortable" spot, and the film was "much more focused" than the play. The stage version "was more physically demanding," but Smith admits it was "a long time ago" and then "she could handle it." She joked that "not much method [acting] is necessary when you're dressed like [her] and in a van".

music

The soundtrack consists of classical music by Schubert, Chopin and others; complementary music was composed by George Fenton . It was released as a soundtrack album on Sony Classical, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment .

publication

The world premiere was on September 12, 2015 at the Toronto International Film Festival . The UK premiere was on October 13 at the 59th London Film Festival and the US premiere was on November 15 at the 38th Denver International Film Festival . The German premiere was on April 14, 2016.

Awards and nominations

year price category Nominated Result
2016 Golden Globe Awards 2016 Best Actress - Comedy / Musical Maggie Smith
2016 British Academy Film Awards 2016 Best main actress Maggie Smith
2016 Evening Standard British Film Award Best main actress Maggie Smith winner

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for The Lady in the Van . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b c d Kate Thomas: A lady in tramp's clothing! Maggie Smith dresses as homeless woman as she films Lady In The Van alongside James Corden. In: Daily Mail , published October 23, 2014. Read November 29, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b Press Release. The Lady in the Van trailer: first look at Maggie Smith in the film of Alan Bennett's play. In: The Daily Telegraph , published February 26, 2015. Read February 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jeremy Kay: Toronto to open with 'Demolition'; world premieres for 'Trumbo', 'The Program'. In: Screen Daily , published July 28, 2015. Read July 28, 2015.
  5. ↑ Guy Lodge: Toronto Film Review: 'The Lady in the Van'. In: Variety , published September 12, 2015. Read November 30, 2015.
  6. ^ A b Steve Payne: Film review: The Lady in the Van (9 out of 10). In: West Sussex County Times , published November 13, 2015. Read November 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ a b Tim Robey: The Lady in the Van review: 'cosily enjoyable'. In: The Daily Telegraph. published November 12, 2015. Read November 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ Mani Maran: LFF 2015: The Lady In The Van. In: Empire , published October 13, 2015. Read November 29, 2015.
  9. ^ Baz Bamigboye: Dame Maggie makes a date with Bennett's History Boys. In: Daily Mail , published October 9, 2014. Read November 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ Press Release. TriStar Productions greenlights film version of "The Lady in the Van" starring Maggie Smith. In: Sony Pictures , published June 3, 2014. Read November 29, 2015.
  11. ↑ Entertainment & Arts. Alan Bennett's Lady in the Van getting big screen treatment. on BBC , published May 9, 2014. Read December 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ Andrew Pulver: Nicholas Hytner to direct adaptation of Alan Bennett's The Lady in the Van. In: The Guardian , published May 9, 2014. Read December 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ Justin Kroll: TriStar Productions Teams With BBC Films on Maggie Smith's 'Lady in the Van'. In: Variety , published June 3, 2014. Read December 2, 2015.
  14. ^ Reed Tucker: Why a playwright let a homeless woman live in his driveway for 15 years. In: New York Post , published November 28, 2015. Read March 11, 2016.
  15. ↑ Kevin Loader: The Lady in the Van Press Conference in Full - Maggie Smith & Alan Bennett. , published October 12, 2015, (2:40 am to 3:00 am). Read on March 11, 2016.
  16. ↑ Andrew Pulver: Alan Bennett: 'It was weird to film The Lady in the Van in my old house' In: The Guardian , published October 13, 2015. Read December 4, 2015.
  17. ↑ George Fenton : George Fenton Recordings. on .georgefentonmusic.com, published November 30, 2015. Read November 30, 2015.
  18. ↑ 'The Lady in the Van (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' by George Fenton. on Allmusic , published November 30, 2015. Read November 30, 2015.
  19. ↑ Lou Lumenick : This film might land Maggie Smith her seventh Oscar nod. In: New York Post , published September 16, 2015. Read November 30, 2015.
  20. ↑ Press Release. The 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express® announces full 2015 program. at London Film Festival , released September 10th 2015. Read November 30th 2015.
  21. ↑ Will C. Holden: 2015 Denver Film Festival: 3 films worth seeing each day. on Fox 31 Denver , published November 4th, 2015.
  22. ^ Winners & Nominees 2016. Hollywood Foreign Press Association , December 10, 2015, accessed January 1, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Leading Actress in 2016. on BAFTA .
  24. ^ IMDB result list of the Evening Standard British Film Awards