Maybe I will now
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Alan Bennett:
[at his writing desk]
Starting out as someone incidental to my life, she remained on the edge of it so long, she became not incidental to it at all. As home bound sons and daughters looking after their parents think of it as just marking time before their lives start, so, like them, I learned there is no such thing as marking time, and that time marks you. In accommodating her and accommodating to her, I find 20 years of my life has gone. This broken-down old woman, her delusions, and the slow abridgment of her life, with all its vehicular permutations, these have been given to me to record as others record journeys across Afghanistan or Patagonia or the thighs of a dozen women. Alan Bennett:
[other self, in chair]
You wanted me to make things happen. And I never have much, but it doesn't matter. Because what I've learned, and maybe she taught me, is that you don't put yourself into what you write. You find yourself there. Alan Bennett:
[at desk]
I never wanted to write about her. If there'd been a bit more in your life, I wouldn't have had to. Alan Bennett:
[in chair]
Maybe I will now
[at his writing desk]
Starting out as someone incidental to my life, she remained on the edge of it so long, she became not incidental to it at all. As home bound sons and daughters looking after their parents think of it as just marking time before their lives start, so, like them, I learned there is no such thing as marking time, and that time marks you. In accommodating her and accommodating to her, I find 20 years of my life has gone. This broken-down old woman, her delusions, and the slow abridgment of her life, with all its vehicular permutations, these have been given to me to record as others record journeys across Afghanistan or Patagonia or the thighs of a dozen women. Alan Bennett:
[other self, in chair]
You wanted me to make things happen. And I never have much, but it doesn't matter. Because what I've learned, and maybe she taught me, is that you don't put yourself into what you write. You find yourself there. Alan Bennett:
[at desk]
I never wanted to write about her. If there'd been a bit more in your life, I wouldn't have had to. Alan Bennett:
[in chair]
Maybe I will now
Full Transcript
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.254
BENNETT Starting out as someone incidental to my life
00:00:05.087 --> 00:00:10.935
she remained on the edge of it so long she became not incidental to it at all
00:00:11.593 --> 00:00:15.393
As home bound sons and daughters looking after their parents
00:00:15.472 --> 00:00:19.978
think of it as just marking time before their lives start
00:00:20.602 --> 00:00:25.095
so like them I learned there is no such thing as marking time
00:00:26.942 --> 00:00:29.161
and that time marks you
00:00:30.279 --> 00:00:34.455
In accommodating her and accommodating to her
00:00:34.533 --> 00:00:37.878
I find 20 years of my life has gone
00:00:40.956 --> 00:00:44.631
This broken down old woman her delusions
00:00:44.071 --> 00:00:49.807
and the slow abridgment of her life with all its vehicular permutations
00:00:50.716 --> 00:00:53.064
these have been given to me to record
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Movie Summary
The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
Actors
Alan Bennett
