Whit Stillman (The Last Days of Disco) was one of the finest voices in independent American cinema in the 1990s. His witty comedies of manners (or rather, of lack of manners) centered on the social and romantic entanglements of the “urban haute bourgeoisie,” a term for WASPs coined by one the characters in his debut, Metropolitan. His success helped pave for the way for the equally literary dramedies of the likes of Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) and others.
But, after 1998’s The Last Days of Disco completed an informal trilogy loosely based on Stillman’s own experiences, he disappeared from filmmaking. There was constantly talk of what his next project would be, much of it intriguingly out of left field, like a proposed Revolutionary War drama, but nothing ever materialized.
In his own words, he was “failing” – failing to get any of a number of projects off the ground and through the various, hellish hoops of independent film production. But, 14 years later, he’s finally returned, with Damsels in Distress – a success for Stillman in every sense of the term.
The film, which centers around a group of sorority sisters, led by the excellent Greta Gerwig (Arthur), at the fictitious Seven Oaks College, manages to find the perfect degree of evolution for his trademark style. With its focus on the mannered, arguably (but unintentionally) condescending behavior of people who score rather high on the “prep” scale, it feels decidedly Stillman-esque, but it doesn’t feel like he’s been twiddling his thumbs for the past decade, either.
The tone is notably loopier than in past efforts, for one thing. It’s the most overtly comedic – and, by extension, probably the most effortlessly enjoyable – movie Stillman has made. There’s no shortage of dry wit and complex characterization, but there are also, for the first time, “gags” in a Stillman movie. Pretty good ones, too.
It’s also the strangest movie Stillman has made. There was always something odd about the pretensions of his waspy characters, at least to an outsider, but much of the behavior here is outright daffy, such as Gerwig’s character’s obsession with starting an “international dance craze” she calls “The Sambola!”
Still, this behavior is rooted in a cast of well-drawn characters, which helps ground all the free-floating whimsy. The film’s got a beating, human heart, even if it’s buried under a dozen layers of irony and general oddness. Damsels in Distress may have a high barrier to enter, but it’s a rewarding comedy for those willing to make the effort.
VERDICT: Whit Stillman, we’re glad to have you back. Please, stick around for a while.
rgifford@umdbk.com
