{"id":5760,"date":"2016-06-14T07:11:56","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T11:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5760"},"modified":"2016-07-12T06:28:37","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T10:28:37","slug":"love-friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5760","title":{"rendered":"Love & Friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LadyIn this brilliantly funny movie (trailer<\/a>), writer-director Whit Stillman takes on a lesser-known early Jane Austen novella, Lady Susan<\/em>. It\u2019s a a gem of female manipulation cut and polished on male cluelessness, and Lady Susan Vernon is the lapidarist in chief.<\/p>\n

In this early epistolary novel (probably written when Austen was only 23), the author’s disdain for the treatment of women is evident, and her character gets her revenge, deliciously. Though it\u2019s still the cake underneath \u00a0her better-known novels, there it\u2019s masked by a thicker romantic frosting (see this recent post about the dark subtext<\/a> of Austen’s novels).<\/p>\n

Near-penniless, Lady Susan must find a husband for herself and her daughter, and Kate Beckinsale is a powerful Susan, \u201cthe most accomplished flirt in all England.\u201d The cast is strong, with Chlo\u00eb Sevigny as the American Alicia Johnson, Susan\u2019s co-conspirator, eager to avoid being returned to Connecticut, Susan\u2019s perceptive sister-in-law Catherine (played by Emma Greenwell), and long-suffering daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark). Jemma Redgrave, playing Catherine\u2019s mother, immediately reveals herself as an heir to the British acting family through her strong physical resemblance to auntie Vanessa.<\/p>\n

The men are cheerfully dim-witted, none more so than Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett). With \u00a310,000 a year, he\u2019s as rich as Darcy. But he\u2019s also \u201ca bit of a rattle\u201d\u2014\u201cRegency slang for blithering idiot,\u201d A.O. Scott<\/a> reminds us in The New York Times<\/em>. \u201cHow jolly! Tiny green balls. What are they called?\u201d Sir James asks, pushing them around his dinner plate. \u201cPeas.\u201d Catherine\u2019s brother Reginald (Xavier Samuel) is not dim, but even he is no match for Susan\u2019s calculated charm offensive and her \u201cuncanny understanding of men\u2019s natures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quite apropos of the current political season, friends Susan and Alicia blithely justify their most outrageous behavior, putting themselves always on the high ground. At one point, when confronted with her own irrefutable error, Susan snaps, \u201cFacts are horrid things.\u201d Clearly, a woman for this season.<\/p>\n

Above and beyond the satisfying plot, delicious characters, and irresistible pull toward respectable matrimony, the charming countryside (filmed in Ireland) and gorgeous costumes are worth the price of admission. Over the story, widow Susan\u2019s costumes go from all-black deep mourning, to light mourning (grey and lavender), to none at all. When she dons that scarlet dress, look out! \u201cIt all ends up pretty much as expected,\u201d Scott says, \u201cand yet also manages to take you by surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> critics rating: 99%; audiences 74% (I\u2019m betting audiences find it \u201ctalky.\u201d But in the talk, there\u2019s wit.)<\/p>\n

Related articles<\/h6>\n