Sunday Spotlight: Love & Friendship

I think it's safe to assume most of you reading this are Jane Austen fans, I mean who doesn't love Jane Austen? The latest film inspired by her works, an adaptation of her early work called Lady Susan, is a film called Love & Friendship. Was this a terrible choice for the title of the film? Possibly. Would Lady Susan have been a much better title? Absolutely yes. Sill, I'll begin by saying I really enjoyed the film!

Goodness knows I'll go see most films set in the 18th century just for the costumes alone, but with the addition of Jane Austen I'll see it opening weekend! Lady Suasn (Kate Beckinsale) is recently widowed, has next to no income, and has been living by visiting her relations. Her neglected daughter is of little concern to her as she doesn't see much of herself in her and she has recently refused a wealthy suitor (who is a bumbling fool, but 10,000 a year ladies!). Lady Susan is a bit Becky Sharp in the best way, sure she is manipulative and arrogant but she has mastered the art of living as a woman in her time. She navigates trying to get both herself and her daughter married to wealthy men, all while keeping her own married lover on the on the side. I won't say anymore as I think you should all go see it! The film is definitely on the comedy side of Austen's work and I found it quite funny indeed :)

As for the costumes, I'd give the film an 7 out of 10. There was a nice use of the stages of mourning for lady Susan with her costumes starting out all black, moving into black and purple, then lighter purples, and finally regular colors once more. The costumes were definitely modernized for a modern audience and mostly with success, for example the black velvet coat with the large black fur was glamorous and lovely. I also liked the use of sheer fabrics and tulle overlays even if tulle isn't historically accurate. As for the costume misses, there were a few gowns where the necklines were just ill fitted and awkwardly high? The lavender dress at the end of this post and another dress Susan wears in light pink both have this strangely too high neckline, and you can see the neckline of the stays is lower which created a weird look. There was also a gown of Susan's closest friend Alicia (Chloe Sevigny) that had an unfortunate stomacher situation going on. Mostly I quite liked the costumes, I'd love to have the black velvet coat and the epic hats!