4 stars. Rated PG, for no particular reason
By Derrick Bang
I wonder if late 18th century
aristocrats actually were so unswervingly polite with each other, or whether
that’s an affectation we’ve grown to expect from Jane Austen stories.
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| Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) has designs on the much younger Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel), a potential match that horrifies his sister and their parents. Lady Susan couldn't care less about their objections, so the question remains: Can anything save the poor lad from this black widow's clutches? |
Whatever the actual truth,
dramatic adaptations of Austen’s tales always are a treat, in great part
because of the diabolically deceptive manner in which characters cut each other
dead, with such cleverly scathing turns of phrase ... always delivered quietly,
with a disarming smile that leaves the victim in stunned silence.
Director/scripter Whit Stillman’s
Love & Friendship has many such
delectable moments, with plenty of tart dialog exchanged between the various
good-hearted characters who do their best to survive encounters with the
predatory schemer in their midst. The film is based on a lesser-known Austen
work: the epistolary novella Lady Susan,
likely written in the 1790s, before any of her published longer works, and then
withheld. It remained unseen for half a century after her death, until a nephew
published it in 1871.
Aside from its relative brevity, Lady Susan differs from Austen’s
“classic” works — most notably Sense and
Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice,
and Emma — in that its “heroine” is
neither honorable nor admirable. Lady Susan Vernon is selfish, conniving and
utterly ruthless, caring not a whit for the bruised or shattered feelings of
those left in her wake.
In short, she’s a monster.
And yet, as played here to saucy,
unapologetically haughty perfection by Kate Beckinsale, she’s utterly
irresistible.
From a safe distance.
The saga begins as the recently
widowed Lady Susan flees a scandal, choosing to “hide out” at Churchill, the
estate of her in-laws, Charles Vernon (Justin Edwards) and his wife, Catherine
DeCourcy Vernon (Emma Greenwell). Charles is magnanimous, by nature believing
the best in everybody; Catherine is wary, recalling how her marriage was so
vociferously opposed by Lady Susan.
Still, Lady Susan now appears chastened
and friendly; Catherine cautiously hopes for the best.
She should have gone with her
first instinct.
