The Lady in the Van (2015)

Nicholas Hytner’s adaptation of Alan Bennett’s memoir about an eccentric old lady who takes up residence on his Camden Town driveway. 

Alex Jennings plays Bennett. Maggie Smith is superb in the lead role, giving a suitably cantankerous and unlikable yet intelligent performance. I found the gimmick of two Alan Bennetts (as writer Alan talks to regular-guy Alan) an unwieldy distraction. Introducing the real Alan Bennett in a tricksy cameo at the end was further self-indulgent silliness. 

To the film's credit it doesn't sentimentalise the original material (there's plenty about toilet matters), and it reveals psychological depths that a lesser director might have ignored in favour of lazy farce. It also looks at middle-class guilt and how people behave when confronted by difficult situations that puncture the veneer of social normality.

I was pleased to see Rising Damp's Frances de la Tour as one of the neighbours.

A Room with a View (1985)

Produced by the Merchant Ivory team, this adaptation of E.M. Forster's 1908 novel is arguably the ultimate costumer.

A young woman named Lucy Honeychurch navigates relationship troubles and the social restrictions of Edwardian England.

Helena Bonham Carter is immensely lovable in the main role.

There's so much subtle, gentle wit on display, and the Italian locations look lavish.

Surprisingly, Forster seems to work much better on film than on the page (see also Howard's End, which also starred H.B.C.). Rich and vibrant characters come alive through a sparkling script. Simon Callow is excellent as the Reverend Mr Beebe. Judi Dench is also on top form as the novelist Eleanor Lavish. 

The rest of the all-star cast includes Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott and Daniel Day-Lewis.

My Old Lady (2014)

Written and directed by Israel Horovitz, who adapted this film from his own play, this is an extremely powerful drama. 

Kevin Kline plays Mathias, an American who travels to Paris to claim an apartment his father has left him in his will. But he finds living there the 92-year-old Mathilde (Maggie Smith), who – because of a “viager” arrangement – is legally entitled to live there for the rest of her life while being paid a monthly fee to do so. Things become more complicated when Mathias meets her daughter Chloé (Kristin Scott Thomas) and he begins to learn more about their pasts. 

There are comic moments throughout, but the film becomes more serious and poignant as it progresses. All three leads are superb and it’s striking how “real” it all seems, with the emotions and pain seeming entirely convincing. The characters grow deeper as the plot moves along. 

The only aspect that I didn’t really like was the slightly clichéd “French” music on the soundtrack. But that aside, it’s pretty much flawless.