Metropolitan (1990)/The Last Days Of Disco
(1998/Criterion Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B Sound: B-/B Extras: B- Films: B-
For a
while, it looked like Whit Stillman was going to be the next breakout filmmaker
from the independent scene. With his first
few films getting critical acclaim and being memorable and noteworthy, they
even did some box office for the kinds of films they were. Now, Criterion has issued his first film Metropolitan (1990) and third film The Last Days Of Disco (1998) at the
same time on Blu-ray and the result are very impressive volumes.
Metropolitan (1990) is part of a cycle of
films that started with Barry Levinson’s Diner
(1982) and found its early commercial apex with Joel Schumacher’s St. Elmo’s Fire (1985, the film that established
the “brat pack” moniker, reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) continued
for a while and the difference here is what Stillman achieved. Though Fire
was seen as the first film about general yuppies, Metropolitan is the real thing, honestly and seriously dealing with
upper class teens of that generation and we are talking those who are very
educated, articulately well spoken, have exceptional vocabularies as
second-nature and are connected to much money or are very close to it.
In some
ways, the young people here seem like the ghosts of the New
York City of the past, that of Art Deco and the rise of America as a
superpower, though even a film this good with intelligent dialogue from a
privileged world cannot totally escape the very large shadow cast by Woody
Allen. But it is a colder world like
that of Stanley Kubrick (he was a fan of Stillman’s follow-up film Barcelona and his work in general may
have informed a bit of Kubrick’s own Eyes
Wide Shut (1999) ) as well as some real Film Noirs. However, the best thing is that the film
takes us somewhere we have not been before and the unknown cast is remarkable
in their roles.
My only
issue is that the film does not always add up all the way into being totally
believable, but it is interesting and I have not seen a film quite like it
since. Sometimes the dialogue does not
ring true, yet these people talk at each other when they talk to each other,
putting them at an emotional and real
politik disadvantage in dealing with the real world. The film holds up well and this is a fine
presentation.
Two films
later, we go back in time to The Last
Days Of Disco (1998) except that instead of the usual “everybody had fun,
partied and got crazy” portrayal of the time, it is a view of how the rise of
yuppies and yuppies to be remained (and even survived) once the Right Wing
reactionary Disco Sucks (along with
the excesses of the music commercialized) killed the movement. With more money, Stillman has known actors
(and the soon to be known) like Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny, Robert Sean
Leonard and even Jennifer Beals (perfect with her never-say-Disco Flashdance connection) in a film that
arrived around the time of the inferior 54
(though a longer cut of that film exists, Miramax keeps suppressing it) and
we get more unusual, intelligent dialogue, fine performances and situations.
I also
liked the way Stillman ironically used so many great Disco classics throughout
in amusing, yet not so obvious ways. I
also like the look of the film, which has its Disco looks, yet also stays
firmly in the New York City
of the time. The film sometimes gets a
little sidetracked, but not for long and like Metropolitan, I got more out of it this time than any time
before. I recommend both films very
much, even if they have a few minor glitches overall.
The 1080p
1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Metropolitan (shot in the Super 16mm format) and the 1080p 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image on Disco
(shot on 35mm film) look as good as they are ever going to look with the former
having its share of expected grain and the latter looking even better with fine
detail, some depth and even some demo shots here and there. Director of Photography John Thomas (who also
lensed Barcelona) creates palpable densities in
the most interesting ways that match Stillman’s directing style very, very
well. Both transfers come from 35mm
interpositive prints, which means Metropolitan
is from a blow-up, but it is just fine.
The PCM 1.0
Mono lossless on Metropolitan comes
from a 35mm magnetic master and though it may or may not have had more than one
track, the makers have decided not to try a stereo or 5.1 upgrade, but that is
fine here since this is a warm, clean, clear track that plays back very
nicely. They did a pretty good recording
job in the first place, which pays off here. Disco
was original a digital 5.1 theatrical release and the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix here is a very pleasant surprise with a consistent soundfield from
a well recorded magnetic multi-channel soundmaster and that includes al the
music (including those Disco hits) sounding great. The combination in both cases meets the high
standards we expect from Criterion.
Extras for
both releases include a nicely illustrated foldout on each respective film including
informative text and essays (Luc Sante writes on Metropolitan, while David Schikler writes on Disco), while the Blu-rays have feature length audio commentary
tracks by Stillman joined by DP Thomas on #1 and Actors Chris Eigeman, Taylor
Nicols and Editor Christopher Tellefsen #2 on Metropolitan and by Actors Sevigny and Co-Star Chris Eigeman on Disco), plus Outtakes/Deleted Scenes
for both films. Metropolitan adds alternate casting with Stillman commentary, while
Disco adds an Original Theatrical
Trailer, Stills with captions by Stillman, Stillman reading from the source
novel with illustrations, a vintage Behind-The-Scenes featurette and four
Deleted Scenes of interest to watch after seeing the film.
- Nicholas Sheffo
