Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

Love & Friendship

    • Director

      Whit Stillman

    • Credits

      Producers:
      Katie Holly,
      Whit Stillman,
      Lauranne Bourrachot

      Cinematographer:
      Richard Van Oosterhout

    • Principal Cast

      Kate Beckinsale,
      Chloë Sevigny,
      Xavier Samuel,
      Stephen Fry

  • Category

    Feature

An adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan, a posthumously published early epistolary novella, Love & Friendship sees Whit Stillman transpose his urbane, ironic brand of humour to 18th-century England with delightful results. A director of literary sensibility, Stillman incorporates playful devices of his own into Austen’s elaborate comedy of manners, such as introducing his dramatis personae with wryly amusing character descriptions.

The recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), a scheming, self-interested manipulator, comes to stay with her in-laws, Catherine and Charles Vernon, at their country estate, primarily for the purposes of securing her financial future through a match with Catherine’s eligible younger brother Reginald de Courcy (Xavier Samuel), a plan which comes unstuck with the surprise arrival of her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark), a potential romantic distraction for Reginald. Lady Susan must use all her wiles to thwart their possible union.

Notes by David O'Mahony

90 minutes, Ireland, France, Netherlands, 2016, Colour

IFI CINEMAS TODAY


The IFI is supported
by The Arts Council

Arts Council of Ireland