Love & Friendship
| Love & Friendship | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Whit Stillman |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Whit Stillman |
| Based on | Lady Susan by Jane Austen |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Mark Suozzo |
| Cinematography | Richard Van Oosterhout |
| Edited by | Sophie Corra |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[1] |
| Box office | $13 million[2] |
Love & Friendship is a 2016 romantic comedy film written and directed by Whit Stillman. It is based on Jane Austen's epistolary novel Lady Susan first published in 1871. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel and Stephen Fry. Although it was adapted from Austen's novel Lady Susan, the film was produced under the borrowed title of her juvenile story Love and Freindship [sic]. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016. It was released on May 13, 2016, by Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios. Love & Friendship received critical acclaim and has been a box office success in North America.
Contents
[hide]Plot[edit]
Set in the 1790s, the widowed Lady Susan Vernon seeks refuge with her in-laws as rumors about her scandalous private life circulate through polite society. While staying at the estate, Lady Susan decides to find husbands for herself and her daughter, Frederica.[3][4]
Cast[edit]
- Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon
- Chloë Sevigny as Alicia Johnson
- Xavier Samuel as Reginald DeCourcy
- Stephen Fry as Mr. Johnson
- Emma Greenwell as Catherine Vernon
- Morfydd Clark as Frederica Vernon
- James Fleet as Sir Reginald DeCourcy
- Jemma Redgrave as Lady DeCourcy
- Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin
- Justin Edwards as Charles Vernon
- Jenn Murray as Lady Lucy Manwaring
Production[edit]
In May 2013, Whit Stillman announced his plans to shoot a period comedy.[5] In July, it was confirmed that Stillman was filming an adaptation of Jane Austen's Lady Susan, titled Love & Friendship. Stillman hoped to shoot the film in Britain or Ireland.[6] Unlike other Austen novels, Lady Susan has rarely been adapted for the screen.[7] Stillman discovered Lady Susan in the late 1990s. After he had finished reading Austen's Northanger Abbey, Stillman found Lady Susan was included in the same edition and he became "fascinated" with the story, believing it "was too good not to be known."[8] Stillman thought that the novel had some good features, but was inaccessible, causing it to be overlooked by filmmakers.[8]
The film received funding from Arte, the Irish Film Board and the Netherlands Film Fund.[9] Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin in the Summer of 2014,[10] but later started on February 2, 2015 in Dublin.[11][12] Filming also took place in the coastal town of Donabate.[13] For three weeks, scenes were shot on-location at Newbridge Estate.[14] on 16 March 2015, it was announced that filming on the production had wrapped.[15] In a thiry minute interview for AOL Build released on May 12, 2016 on YouTube between Stillman and Beckinsale, Beckinsale indicated that the entire filming was completed in 27 days.[16] The film's assembly edit took place at the EGG Post Production house in Dublin, and continued in France and the Netherlands.[17]
On December 29, 2015, a contributor to Film Music Reporter confirmed the film's score was being composed by Mark Suozzo, who has composed the music for all of Stillman's previous films.[18]
Casting[edit]
In February 2014, Amanda Dobbins from New York reported actress Sienna Miller had been cast as Lady Susan, while Chloë Sevigny would play Susan's close friend Alicia.[19] Miller later left the project to join the cast of American Sniper.[20] The following year, it was announced that Kate Beckinsale had replaced Miller as Lady Susan. Xavier Samuel and Stephen Fry also joined the cast as Reginald and Mr. Johnson respectively.[3] Beckinsale and Sevigny previously worked together on Stillman's The Last Days of Disco.[3] Other cast members include Emma Greenwell as Catherine Vernon, Morfydd Clark as Frederica, Jemma Redgrave as Lady DeCourcy, James Fleet as Sir Reginald DeCourcy, Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin and Justin Edwards as Charles Vernon.[21][22] Stillman later confirmed that Clark was the first actor to be cast, followed by Fleet and Redgrave. The director also said he met with two other actors for the part of Sir James Martin, before Bennett was cast in the role.[21]
Todd Van der Werff writing for Vox referred to the successful aspects of Stillman's casting for the film stating: "Love & Friendship is filled with (casting) ringers. Stephen Fry pops up in what amounts to a one-scene cameo, and he's wickedly funny. Chloë Sevigny is great as his wife, Susan's American friend who finds herself constantly dealing with the protagonist's latest schemes. And Xavier Samuel is deliciously oblivious as the young man Susan tries to wed. But even the actors you've never heard of give wonderful performances. Love & Friendship marks one of Morfydd Clark's first film roles, and as Frederica she manages to transform the character's innocence into the basis for comedy instead of just a metaphor for everything Susan might destroy. That same level of skill is evident in every member of the ensemble."[23]
Release[edit]
UK sales agency Protagonist Pictures represented the film at the European Film Market during the Berlin International Film Festival.[9] Amazon Studios acquired the North American rights to the film,[24] and teamed up with Roadside Attractions for its theatrical release.[25] While Curzon Artificial Eye will handle the film's UK release.[26] Love & Friendship had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2016.[27] The film is scheduled to have a limited release in the United States from May 13, 2016.[28]
Novelization[edit]
A novelization of the film written by the director Whit Stillman was announced for publication to coincide with the general release of the film on May 13, 2016.[8] Alexandra Alter of The New York Times states in her 2016 interview article with Stillman, describing the novelization: "In the novel, Mr. Stillman takes the characters and plot from Austen's fictionalized letters and narrates the tale from the perspective of Lady Susan's nephew, who hopes to counter criticism of his maligned aunt. The 41 letters from Austen's Lady Susan are included in an appendix."[8] Stillman told Alter that he felt Lady Susan was not quite finished and thought the form of the book was "so flawed".[8] After realising that there was another story to be told, he convinced the publisher Little, Brown and Company to let him write the novel.[8]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Love & Friendship earned $132,750 from four theaters during its opening weekend.[29] As of June 2016, the film has grossed over $9.5 million.[2]
Critical response[edit]
The film received acclaim from critics. It has a "certified fresh" approval rating of 99%, with an average rating of 8.4 out of 10 based on 122 reviews, according to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website's consensus reads, "Love & Friendship finds director Whit Stillman bringing his talents to bear on a Jane Austen adaptation – with a thoroughly delightful period drama as the result."[30] Metacritic reported an average score of 87 out of 100, based on 36 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim".[31]
A.O. Scott, in his review for The New York Times, gave high praise to Stillman as director of the film: "Mr. Stillman, who started out (with Metropolitan in 1990) as an anatomist of the manners and mores of the young American “urban haute bourgeoisie” and returned to filmmaking with the campus comedy Damsels in Distress (2012), is perfectly at home in Austen’s world. He approaches his literary source not with the usual reverence but with an appreciation for its freewheeling sense of fun. At times, most often when Mr. Bennett is onscreen, Love & Friendship is howlingly funny, and as a whole it feels less like a romance than like a caper, an unabashedly contrived and effortlessly inventive heist movie with a pretty good payoff."[32] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, in a rave review, described it as "a hilariously self-aware period comedy polished to a brilliant sheen," with particular praise reserved for Beckinsale and Tom Bennett, whose Sir James character "comes very close to pinching the whole film, with his gormless, grinning comedy."[33] Empire magazine also awarded it 5 stars. [Citation?]
Writing for The New Yorker, Richard Brody found the film to be "deeply satisfying". In his summary of the film, Brody stated that: “Love & Friendship is both a worldview in motion and the story of how it crystallized; its portrait of a society changing suddenly, drastically, and gloriously through the delicate strategies and bold tactics of a woman who’s honest with herself about what she wants and what she’ll do to get it is strangely, deeply personal."[34]
A contributor to the British news weekly The Economist praised Beckinsale's acting stating: "Lady Susan, who Ms Beckinsale brings to life with magnetism and charisma, masterfully uses her charm and wit to thrive in any situation. Even when an intercepted letter exposes her love triangle, she feigns outrage and offence at the breach of her privacy—DeCourcy ends up apologising to her. She is a beguiling woman in full control of her own allure, and uses her 'uncanny' understanding of the men’s natures with much success."[35] The contributor added "Despite some flaws, Love & Friendship is a welcome addition to what we have come to know as the Austen adaptation canon. The film is rollicking, visually stunning and light. Lady Susan is an easy-to-love anti-heroine, a far cry from the rather dull Elizabeth Bennet or the irritating Dashwood sisters."[35]
Writing for TheWrap on January 24, 2016, Alonso Duralde commented on the Sundance premiere of the film stating: "In the same way that Stillman has brought the courtliness of another era to his modern stories, in Love & Friendship he puts a contemporary twist on venerable material, down to a third-act twist that suggests behavior that's anything but chaste. Were she around today, Miss Austen would, I think, smile upon this adaptation. And then she might add the upcoming Blu-ray of Stillman's Barcelona to her Amazon wish list."[36]
Justin Chang of Variety described Beckinsale's role as one of the most satisfying screen roles of her career.... Beckinsale magnetizes the screen in a way that naturally underscores how far ahead of everyone else she is: an effect that doesn't always work to the movie's advantage."[37] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter remarked, "There aren't great depths to the role, but Beckinsale excels with the long speeches and in defining her character as a very self-aware egoist."[38]
Love & Friendship was nominated for the Big Screen Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.[39]
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