The Last Days of Disco

I just saw Whit Stillman's "The Last Days of Disco" and I liked it a lot! It was cool to see a film about that era that didn't focus on the fashion and the music but still in some way was about disco. I also liked the subtle humour of the film, kinda like Woody Allen. And the film actually made me happy. Most films that are supposed to make people happy often end up making me sick instead.

I have only heard about two other films by Whit Stillman: "Barcelona" and "Metropolitan" (I think it was). Has anyone seen them and can you tell me anything about them? What do you think about "The Last Days of Disco" and about Whit Stillman in general?

I liked The Last Days of Disco (1998) OK, but Whit's first two films are much better. That same kind of low-key, deadpan, ironic sense of humor is there, and his diologue has a very distinct music to it, but Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994) are more complete and satisfying efforts. For me, Barcelona is his best film to date.

All three films have been at least loosely autobiographical. He was born to a kind of privelege as the son of a politician and debutante traveling in those posh circles, as a young man he spent nights in the Studio 54-fueled disco landscape of Manhattan, and he met his Spanish wife while working in Barcelona.


And everytime I see Whit's movies I'm amazed that Chris Eigeman isn't a bigger star, even just in the indie film world. I think he should be the male equivalent of Parker Posey, appearing in dozens of flicks, working constantly. He did make a stab at the mainstream when he co-starred on the ill-titled ABC sitcom "It's Like, You Know..." (1999). That show didn't last but half a season, and it's only remembered (if at all) as the show where Jennifer Grey played herself and made a running gag of her nosejob that altered her appearance from the Dirty Dancing/Ferris Bueller's Day Off gal we all knew.

Eigeman has a recurring guest role on "Malcolm in the Middle", but I'd like to see him in more projects. Taylor Nichols is Stillman's other alter ego - though his role in Disco is basically only a cameo, and he has shown up in more mainstream fare (Jurassic Park III, Congo, The American President and HBO's "The Mind of the Married Man"). Nichols and Eigeman work well together, deliver Stillman's stylized dialogue perfectly, and I hope Whit uses them again prominently.


But Whit hasn't made a movie since The Last Days of Disco. I'm definitely a fan and await his next effort, but Stillman isn't as well known as he should be. His voice and those three movies are wonderful, but difficult to market into any kind of measurable "success". The Last Days of Disco did get some decent publicity and distribution (compared to the first two films), unfortunately it was his weakest work thus far and probably didn't have the same kind of chance Barcelona would have given the same profile. He does have a fanbase, but he's still pretty much a secret.

So yeah, seek out Barcelona and Metropolitan. Barcelona did get an R1 DVD release, but Metropolitan may be more difficult to find as it is only available on VHS and has no recognizeable names in the cast to lure Blockbuster to stock it on their shelves (at least Barcelona has a role for Mira Sorvino, and Disco has Kate Beckinsale). Well worth tracking 'em down.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I also liked the film. It was mostly talking, but it was well written.

It has the same kind of feeling as films like "Your Friends and Neighbours" and "Diner". For a writer, those films are great to watch.

I love the scene with the Donald Duck line.

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"I know a man who was born with his heart on the outside. Every man's worst fear, he also had heavy hands. he couldn't touch his lovers face, he couldn't hold a baby." - Buck 65

Well, thank you Holden for that biography!

I also think it's amazingly strange that Chloë Sevigny isn't a big star. As soon as she appeared on the screen it's so obvious that she's got IT! She, my friends, is HOT!

I'm not surprised the film wasn't a hit though. It's the kind of film where "nothing really happens". There's no punchlines or spectacles. It just flows on pleasantly and I think you have to really appreciate that sense of humour or learn to understand that sense of humour to appreciate it. I obviously haven't seen "Barcelona" so I can't measure its chances compared to "Disco" whether it had bigger chances to be a hit or not. But I will certainly try to get a hold of both "Metropolitan" and "Barcelona".

The Donald Duck line? What was that again? (Man, my memory,,,)-

I thought the "Lady and the Tramp" discussion was priceless.

last days of disco is great. i still havent gotten around to seeing barcelona. i bought a vhs copy of metropolitan at blockbuster (is it me or do those suckers seem intent on getting rid of every decent video they've got?! shouldnt complain, i guess, it just means more cheap classics on vhs for me..) for 5 bucks last year, and it's even better than the last days of disco, check it out.

re:"Eigeman has a recurring guest role on 'Malcolm in the Middle'"
-->i noticed this completely by chance when i was watching that show with my parents last year. not my first choice for something i'd like to see him in, but a nifty surprise anyway. he was fantastic in metropolitan.

Sorry, not Donald Duck, Scrooge Mc Duck. It's been about three years since i've seen it.

One of the girls tells Chloe's character to say something is sexy. It drives the guys crazy.

At the guys house, she see's that he collects Scrooge Mc Duck comics. Taking her friends advice, she says she thinks Scrooge is sexy.

It's funnier when you watch it.

Oh right, now I remember! Duh, of course.... Yeah, it was hilarious.

I too got "Disco" real cheap. I was going through this real crappy CD/DVD/VHS catalogue and went like "Whatta ****??" and quickly ordered not only "Disco" but also films like "Bully" and "Rosemary's Baby" real cheap. Then they charge full price for other films that are really nothing but vomits. They just don't have a clue... which is nice.

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The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.

I used to work at a video store, and you wouldn't believe the high prices people would pay for "vomit".