Distinct Impressions #3: Anne Lambton

A viper.

Nicolas Roeg’s marvellously entertaining and sinister adaptation of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Witches’ is home to a whole host of memorable performances care of Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn, Rowan Atkinson, Bill Paterson… Seemingly nothing more needs to be said. Except, that’s a lie.

A raven hauteur indicative of Lambton’s own aristocratic credentials, Woman in Black enters the film with scene-chewing menace. Black and leathery and bereted, she is an English suburban gothic icon. Her casually intimidating look is completed with chocolate and a snake, the latter which she whispers to enigmatically. Dangerously friendly on the surface, the most chilling moment in her opening scene comes with that unforgettable line uttered to the stranded Luke: “She can’t hear you…”. There is a delicious succulence to Lambton’s enunciation that borders on ASMR fetishism, a smoky pregnant bite.

Woman in Black gets a few more glimpses throughout the film, most notably during the witches convention at the grand hotel, Lambton’s throaty rasp employed when Luke’s eavesdrop on the meeting is - terrifyingly - discovered (“Urgh, the smell!”).

Lambton’s performance in this is a nice contrast to her un-showy portrayal of Isabel Rawsthorne in John Maybury’s brilliant film Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998). And make sure to spot her as a luncheon guest in James Ivory’s Howards End (1992) too (Lambton’s CV is littered with yet more interesting films).

Great acting invites you to imagine more about a said character’s unseen life, and Lambton’s witch is no exception. Does she keep a collection of snakes at home? Where did she purchase - or magic up - that gorgeous bar of chocolate? What label is that jacket? How many children has she most probably killed or vanished into nothingness…