LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP: A WRY, WHITE MOVIE

by Andy Nowicki

There is a subtle irony in the title of Love and Friendship—Whit Stillman's caustically glib and delightfully insouciant cinematic adaptation of the obscure Jane Austen novella Lady Susan—in that the film's protagonist appears to be uninterested in love and incapable of friendship.

Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsdale) in fact reveals herself in short order to be a loathsomely self-interested woman: manipulative, scheming, and cunning; the sort of individual who might today be labeled a "sociopath." Like most sociopaths, she possesses a high degree of intelligence, always masking the diabolical cadaverousness of her soul behind a sweet, soft voice and lovely smile. 

THE DISCRETE WIT OF WHIT STILLMAN

This article was originally published at Counter-Currents in October 2012. It is republished here to serve as an introduction to Andy Nowicki's upcoming review of Stillman's latest film, Love and Friendship.

by Andy Nowicki

In a previous life, before I pledged fealty to the art of the written word – a pursuit for which I have subsequently won fame, fortune, and unbounded acclaim – a different calling beckoned for a time.

I enjoyed reading as a kid, but I also loved the cinema, while at the same time generally detesting everything savoring of "Hollywood" glitz, glamour, and celebrity; by my late-teen years, I'd found a number of films with which I felt I could identify, which spoke in a unique way to my restless young heart.

THE COSMOPOLITANS

In deference to our credo of promoting Alt Right Art, the arts and entertainment staff at Alternative Right is taking the unprecedented step of making a poignant plea to its its readership: Please, when you have a spare half-hour in the next few days, watch the pilot of Whit Stillman's new scintillating, wry, amusing and shimmeringly intelligent Amazon sitcom, "The Cosmopolitans." (Link to the ep below.)

If you like what you see (and surely you will, if you have taste, as surely you do), then vote the show "up." Apparently, like other new pilots that Amazon is funding, the future of "The Cosmopolitans" as a series depends upon the registered interest of viewers.

Whit Stillman, the writer and director of the series, is an unbridled aesthetic reactionary and cultural conservative who treats his predominantly white, professional, hyper-articulate, ultra-literate, uber-refined (if often comically befuddled) characters with great sympathy, compassion and respect. His stories are  modern-day comedies of manners that recall a more civilized era, while also often serving as a pointed commentary on the generally sorry state of present affairs.

Of course, none of this would particularly matter if Stillman weren't also an incredibly witty writer of dialogue and a masterful creator of characters, which he is. And episode one of "The Cosmopolitans" proves Whit's worth yet again.

For a primer on the Stillman oeuvre please see Andy Nowicki's article at Counter-Currents, The Discrete Wit of Whit Stillman.

All hail the latest edition to the Stillman canon! UHB (that is, urban haute bourgeoisie.) forever!

To watch episode one of "The Cosmopolitans," click here.