Day 24: The Last Days of Disco

"There's no chance of you getting infatuated with me again, is there?"

Walt Stillman has been described as the filmmaker that still makes "talkies." This description mostly comes from those who describe the current state of film as one with too much explosions, too much action, not enough insight and dialog. I'd say that's fairly accurate though somewhat unfair since these criticisms come from people who describe the highest grossing films as the only ones people see. (This reviewer must have written this before Tarantino came along.)

Stillman's good at what he does. He's a fantastic writer. As a director? He's nothing special. He writes what has been called a comedy of manners. My opinion of "The Last Days of Disco" is similar to that of "Roger Dodger." The direction is so-so, the writing is just amazing. But "The Last Days of Disco" is certainly a much less flawed film than "Roger Dodger." There are more characters—better characters in fact—and there is a definitive central theme that revolves around the music of the film as opposed to "Dodger" which had a vague film with loosely connected dialog.

The story basically revolves around the last days of disco (if the title wasn't enough for you), but is much more than simply the music going away. It was a whole culture. There was a backlash against the ridiculousness of the the 70s. There's always a backlash. (The most famous is the Baby-Boom backlash.)

What sets "Roger Dodger" as a better film in my opinion, is the fact that "Roger" is how that main character is played with great style. Here the main character is sort of boring and you don't really care about what happens to her. Characters here are rarely defined by what they do, but mostly by what they say and that's fitting seeing that the film is mostly comprised by what they say. This is what makes it a more enjoyable film.

I won't go into the plot itself. It's hard to define a plot for this since all the characters are drifting and continue to drift up until the point that they realize sooner or later they'll have to embrace the modern decade (which I guess would be like the 80s to them). As with all of Stillman's films, there's a critique of privileged society since they never produce the equivalent of what they're given. It's not a critique of the business class, but of the children of the business class. The kids that are wealthy but don't do anything with it. Well they do do something...get into parties and bitch about the fall of disco. This is basically the problem and the success of not really having a plot. These people don't do anything! They just party, put on facades and talk about partying, and when they're not doing those things...they're confused.

As with all Whit Stillman films, Chris Eigeman steals the film. He's been in every one of Stillman's films (there are only three), and his voice suits the dialog. His acting is always the same, always arrogant, but if he were to star in a film on his own it would be boring after awhile. As a supporting actor though, he's all you watch. Kate Beckinsale's in here, but as beautiful as she is, you'll hate her at some point of the film.

This is the least political of Stillman's films. He's not really a political film director but he has introduced politics into his dialog. In "Metropolitan," the main character proclaims to be a dedicated socialist. In "Barcelona" the story takes place during the end of the Cold War, and Americans are not very welcome because of Washington's foreign policy. It's probably the most accessible of Stillman's filmography due to the pop culture references. The part you'll remember most is the analysis of "Lady and the Tramp."

Stillman hasn't made a film since the "Last Days of Disco," but there's been rumors that he's working on one. Let's hope so. There aren't enough "talkies" in the world to watch.