Austen Adaptation at Welty House
A movie featuring a very different sort of Jane Austen heroine will be the final installment in the 2017 Austen Film Series in the Welty Garden. Love and Friendship stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny and was written for the screen and directed by Whit Stillman, who also directed the two actors in The Last Days of Disco. Love and Friendship will screen on Friday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m.
“The film is based on Austen’s story Lady Susan, which I consider to be a comic masterpiece,” said Carolyn Brown, a biographer of Welty and state coordinator of the Jane Austen Society of North America. “Director Whit Stillman was a great choice for this project because of his strong previous work writing and directing comedies of manners, and he really gets it right with Love and Friendship.”
The film follows recently widowed Lady Susan in her intrepid and calculating exploits to secure suitably wealthy husbands for her daughter and herself. Belhaven University film production program chair and Crossroads Film Society board member Rick Negron will lead a brief discussion before the screening.
The Eudora Welty House and Garden and JASNA-MS are partnering with Crossroads Film Society on the series. The Austen Film Series in the Welty Garden is free of charge thanks to a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council.
“Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy these adaptations of the works of one of Welty’s favorite writers,” said Bridget Edwards, director of the Eudora Welty House and Garden.
The garden will open at 5 p.m., the program will begin at 6, and the movie will start at dark—about 6:30 p.m. No reservations are necessary. In the event of inclement weather the film will be shown across the street at Belhaven University. For more information on the film series email info@eudoraweltyhouse.com or call 601-353-7762.
The Eudora Welty House and Garden interprets the life of the internationally acclaimed author. Tours are by reservation Tuesday through Friday and the second Saturday of each month. The house is located at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson and is operated by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.