Whit Stillman + Jane Austen: Love and Friendship

Even though they are almost 200 years apart, Jane Austen’s literary work and Whit Stillman’s filmmaking are quite similar: both being comedies of manners, they deal with the same social class and share a mild irony and unfaltering humanism. Stillman’s latest film, Love & Friendship (2016), sets itself apart from his previous films as much as Lady Susan, on which it is based, differs from Austen’s six novels. Both works are much more satirical and parodical than the rest, while the humour is much less subtle. In this regard, Stillman transcends the concept of film adaptation metatextually, while simultaneously legitimizing the novella that has historically been deemed inferior to Austen’s six novels.

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