#326: STILLMAN, Whit: Metropolitan (1990)
STILLMAN, Whit (United States)
Metropolitan [1990]
Spine #326
DVD
DVD
One of the great American independent films of the 1990s, writer-director Whit Stillman's surprise hit Metropolitan is a sparkling comedic chronicle of a middle-class young man's romantic misadventures among New York City's debutante society. Stillman's deft, literate dialogue and hilariously highbrow observations earned this debut film an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Alongside the wit and sophistication, though, lies a tender tale of adolescent anxiety.
99 minutes
Color
Color
Monaural
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2006
Director/Writer
Whit Stillman was 38 when he wrote and directed Metropolitan.
Other Stillman films in the Collection:
#807: Barcelona (1994)
#485: The Last Days Of Disco (1998)
The Film
Other Stillman films in the Collection:
#807: Barcelona (1994)
#485: The Last Days Of Disco (1998)
The Film
Stillman’s debut film is a beaut. Made on a shoestring budget with first-time actors, this ensemble piece — set in the recent past (the 70’s? 80’s?) — is a delightful piece of cinema about 20-somethings who gently party away their post-debutante Christmas-time dances at The Plaza in Sally Fowler (Dylan Hundley)’s apartment until dawn. They call themselves The Sally Fowler Rat Pack (SFRP).
These well-to-do East Siders are four girls (Sally, Audrey [Carolyn Farina], Jane [Allison Rutledge-Parisi], and Cynthia [Isabel Gillies]) and three guys (Charlie [Taylor Nichols, with a charming slight stutter], Nick [an oily, but handsome Christopher Eigeman], and Fred [Bryan Leder]). A fourth male escort is therefore desperately needed.
This would be the red-headed Tom Townsend (Edward Clements), who lives on the (gasp) Upper West Side. He joins the group quite accidentally, and only grudgingly returns for the nightly parties.
Rounding out the group is a tall pony-tailed Baron (Rick Von Sloneker, Will Kempe) and his on-and-off girlfriend, Serena (Elizabeth Thompson).
No one says “yeah” instead of “yes” or “I dunno” instead of “I find that highly implausible.” There are never enough books to read (Audrey is admired because she’s “well read,” even if she’s “flat-chested”). Tom doesn’t read books, just literary criticism.
Stillman manages to etch these characters on to celluloid without artifice, alternating between close-ups and wide shots and captures a certain time and place with a captivating sense of pace.
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by Luc Sante.
55
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by Luc Sante.
“Metropolitan was made on a tiny budget that restricted locations and virtually precluded camera movement. Stillman and his resourceful DP, John Thomas, worked out a series of graceful compromises, between stasis and airiness, formal composition and liquid spontaneity. The result is a look, surprisingly apt, that is most reminiscent of the early films of Eric Rohmer; and the disarmingly daffy end sequence has a low-budget-to-hell-with-it rambunctiousness that evokes Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders. This may seem odd at first — a picture about the rites of passage of the urban haute bourgeoisie might be expected to appear is impeccably composed as The Earrings of Madame De . . . — but shoestring improvisation provides the metaphor for the film’s subtheme.
Commentary
By Stillman, editor Christopher Tellefsen, and actors Eigeman and Nichols.
Stillman seems justifiably proud of his ability to make this film for $200,000. Tellefsen’s editing was a major contribution to making it look so good. Vincent Canby’s review for The New York Times greatly helped the film find an audience:
By Stillman, editor Christopher Tellefsen, and actors Eigeman and Nichols.
Stillman seems justifiably proud of his ability to make this film for $200,000. Tellefsen’s editing was a major contribution to making it look so good. Vincent Canby’s review for The New York Times greatly helped the film find an audience:
“Nick and the others often see no further than the next night’s invitation. Yet the movie places them in context with such alertness and intelligence that there’s no mistaking the author’s vision. He neither sentimentalizes their confusions nor sends them up. He sees this special Manhattan world through the good satirist’s bifocal lenses.”
Rare outtakes
And alternate casting, with commentary by Stillman.
Two scenes; the latter with Kempe playing Nick.
Trailer
Interesting. The trailer displays the irony that is actually rather hidden in the film itself.
Extras Rating (0-40):
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