REVERIE: THE FILM, LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

My friend asked me if I'd read Lady Susan and I replied I'd read all of Jane Austen's books, but when asked to give a brief synopsis of the novella, I couldn't. A decade may have passed, but I vividly remember every Austen plot except for Northanger Abbey and Lady Susan. I'd checked out the latter novella, its cover faded, years ago from a local library, and I finished the book that night. The story had left one impression: "Lady Susan," and her ability to get into and out of sticky wickets. I'd admired the lady, then, but had stopped short at describing her as a heroine.

Present day: I couldn't wait to see the film adaptation of the novella, Love & Friendship. Walking into the Cape Cinema has always had an Old World feel-- with its proscenium arch and Rockwell Kent murals adorning the ceiling--The theater invites the audience to suspend our daily challenges and be transported. In this film, I felt as if I stepped into a concerto with accomplished soloists and supporting players.

Writer Whit Stillman's staccato dialogue (from his adapted screenplay), performed by what only could be described as a cast of character actors who used their brilliant instruments to elicit laughter and surprise from the viewer, is music to the ears. The maestro or director, again Whit Stillman, skillfully elicits dynamic performances from Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny, Tom Bennett and Xavier Samuel, along with a wonderful supporting cast. What's more, shading, light; color comprise the mesmerizing underscore.

 The pianoforte takes front and center in Beckinsale's hands. Heroine? Some film-goers may see Lady Susan as a survivor who uses her quick brain and tongue to manipulate others, to guarantee an income for herself and her daughter. Other viewers may see the character as selfish, vain, and without compassion. Kate Beckinsale craftily keeps us guessing.

The dialogue often moves at a scherzando pace as Lady Susan Vernon uses her wit, sharpened by years of discreet indiscretions, to play everyone, including her own daughter, Frederica Vernon. Frederica, the passive ingenue speaks like a muted harpsichord, often used in period movies to show ennui. Frederica's crescendo would come, nonetheless, toward the end of Love & Friendship at a most unexpected moment.

Frederica's, wealthy intended, Sir James Martin, hilariously portrayed by Tom Bennett enters the scene, messa di voce or holding the same note while modulating the tone.* Sir James honks like a horn and flutters as a woodwind during opportune moments. We cannot help but be entertained by the buffoon.

In contrast, Lady Susan's American confidante, Alicia Johnson (Chloë Sevigny), lives in London with her flummoxed husband, Mr. Johnson (Stephen Fry), who regularly threatens to send his wife back to Connecticut because he disapproves of Alicia's friendship with the infamous Lady Susan. Alicia plays her husband as she does everyone else, quietly plucking strings and hitting her crescendo without fanfare at the film's climax. Interesting that Sevigny and Beckinsale first starred together in Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco (1998). It's delightful to see the two a play off one another, their characters finding harmony amidst others' discord.

Lady Susan and Alicia conspire to serve Lady Susan's purposes with happy amorality, with little regard to the fate of characters in their circle, including the dashing Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel). Each woman holds a cymbal and Reginald unwittingly gets caught in the crash. The eligible, albeit reluctant hero has to overcome his youthful arrogance before he can transcend Lady Susan's seductive melody.

Whit Stillman's screenplay, a symphony of words which may need a second hearing to appreciate, is performed with full voice by its actors and conducted with a director's eye and ear. Love & Friendship, will keep your mind humming long after the film has ended.


*The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, 1986