I think Whit Stillman is one of my favorite contemporary directors even though his output has been very limited. In fact Damsels In Distress (2011) is his first film since 1998's The Last Days Of Disco. It is typical of Stillman films in several respects: it is a dialogue-based comedy with several female protagonists, dancing and Stillman stalwart Taylor Nichols make a cameo-as he has in all four of Stillman's charming comedies. I must admit I was somewhat skeptical after reading reviews and wondered if he had gone too far with some of his farcical ideas concerning well-meaning coeds who helm the suicide prevention center and frat boys who are so stupid that they can't recognize colors, but oddly enough it works in the Stillman universe. A lot of this has to do with the wonderful, witty dialogue. There are some great gags throughout like the "flit lit" storyline about the dandy tradition, the “flit lit” tradition—that is deprecating college
slang for something that is important — this tradition that comes down
from Johnson to Laurence Sterne to Jonathan Swift, and then to the Oscar
Wilde era and eventually Evelyn Waugh, and separately Jane Austen. Violet talks about the influence of dance crazes on society and refers to the waltz, the tango, and the twist as examples of it before unleashing her own "The Smabola." I also like how he has turned Greek fraternities into Roman ones-complete with a "Roman Holiday." Greta Gerwig is the Chloe Sevigny stand in (and look-alike from Days of Disco) and does an admirable job as the earnest Violet. It was more enjoyable than I thought it would be, but is probably my least favorite Stillman film to date, which essentially is by order of release:
1. Metropolitan (1989)
2. Barcelona (1994)
3. The Last Days of Disco (1998)
4. Damsels In Distress (2011)
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