It's extremely edgy and sort of envelope-pushing and very, very funny.īECKINSALE: (As Lady Susan Vernon) If she were going to be jealous, she should not have married such a charming man. And when I was sent this screenplay, I sort of assumed that Whit Stillman had written a screenplay in the style of Jane Austen because the material's not really what you expect from Jane Austen. SIMON: Did you know about this unfinished novella when they brought the screenplay to you?īECKINSALE: I actually didn't. Thanks so much for being with us.īECKINSALE: Thank you for having me. Lady Susan, as we say, is portrayed by Kate Beckinsale who joins us from New York. So she brings her daughter and herself to her brother-in-law's estate called Churchill, in the days before that name would be so familiar, in hopes of hatching a scheme to make more than one match to secure their futures. SIMON: 'Love & Friendship' stars Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan, a beautiful young widow who's running low on funds just as her oldest daughter becomes of marital age.

KATE BECKINSALE: (As Lady Susan Vernon) Excuse me for arriving this way. XAVIER SAMUEL: (As Reginald DeCourcy) Congratulations on being about to receive the most accomplished flirt in all England. What will filmmakers do next with Jane Austen - turn her old all shopping lists into new movies? 'Lady Susan,' a novella that the English novelist left unfinished, has been turned to a new film - and by the way, also a finished novel, by Whit Stillman.

Movie love and friendship review