Love & Friendship movie review

dir. by Whit Stillman

BEST NEW FEATURE
Jane Austen's popular bibliography has long been a staple of cinema, with Pride & Prejudice in particular receiving no fewer than 10 screen adaptations. As such, it seems inevitable that filmmakers would eventually reach to the darkest corners of her catalogue, pulling out the early novella Lady Susan, a minor Austen work by all accounts, and expanding it to a full hour-and-a-half feature film. This adaptation, Whit Stillman's Love & Friendship, has received universal critical acclaim, boasting an impressive 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best-reviewed film of the summer so far excluding a handful of smaller releases. It's a testament to how weak this summer has been that Love & Friendship doesn't even come close to earlier title holders such as Boyhood and Mad Max: Fury Road, but at the same time, Stillman's film is an absolute delight from start to finish.

While visiting her in-laws in a country estate called "Churchill," Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) wishes to find a wealthy suitor for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark). Recently widowed, Susan also hopes to find a wealthy husband for herself to regain the fortunes she had enjoyed previously. In the process, Susan manipulates those around her and generally acts in an increasingly amoral manner, much to the dismay of everyone around her.

Within the first few minutes of Love & Friendship, we're introduced to a sprawling cast of characters through text on the screen, at times accompanied by a humorous description. This establishes the satirical tone of the film, which is filled to the brim with witty dialogue and the occasional keen observation, as well as a large number of distinctive and humorous personalities. It's easy to forget a lot of the periphery characters, but most of those who have further roles in the film are genuinely entertaining to watch, none more so than Sir James (Tom Bennett), a ridiculous man who is early on betrothed to Fredrica and who displays a complete lack of self-awareness every time he opens his mouth.

Characters like James make up only part of the film's humour, however, as above all else, what elevates Love & Friendship is Austen's wit. Social observation is not uncommon in the dialogue, although with Lady Susan being a minor work, the film never really focuses its observation into sharp criticism, and has a lightweight feeling as a result. Stillman often places emphasis on Austen's male characters, especially Reginald DeCourcy, (Xavier Samuel), the brother of Susan's sister-in-law Catherine (Emma Greenwell). Reginald is often sympathetic in the film, but a few of his choice comments, such as about Fredrica's idea of becoming a teacher, reveal the restrictive notions that these men, and this society, held about women.

Stillman's greatest achievement in adapting Austen is in granting the film a flow and personality that makes its dialogue immediately lively and accessible. Too often, literary adaptations are reverent to the text to the point of stodginess, but Stillman has a thorough of Austen's work that allows him to capture not just her words but also the style and, well, sensibilities of the source material. The film utilizes classical music cues and conventionally pretty cinematography, but rarely is it stiff or overly stale, as the tone remains light and snappy and the occasional stabs at drama are never drowned in seriousness. By keeping the tone breezy, the film is able to capitalize on its wit and maximize its charm.

It's very possible that Love & Friendship owes much of its acclaim to arriving in an especially slow movie season, especially given how disappointing this summer is after the non-stop excellence of 2014 and 2015. However, the film's charms go a long way towards justifying all of the positivity directed towards it, as it is genuinely entertaining and very handsomely crafted, possessing great wit and a strong affinity for its source material. It's a largely lightweight film, but it's also entertaining and clever, a well-crafted adaptation of a solid novella. Even if time and place benefitted it greatly, Stillman's film is still well worth seeing on its own charms alone.

8/10


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Todd Throndson