Metropolitan (1990)
(Whit Stillman, US 1990, 98 min., 35mm)
On the bleeding edge of the American independent cinema boom of the 1990s, writer-director Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan remains a leading example of what can be done with a low budget and a surplus of inspiration and determination. Over the holiday season, a group of young upper-class Manhattanites are making their way through the gala debutante season drinking, smoking, and talking about Jane Austen. Into their midst comes Tom Townsend, who travels in the same collegiate circles but exists on a trust fund set up by his absentee father. His presence stirs a commotion in the group, starting new relationships and ending some forever. Witty, urbane, and incisively insightful, Metropolitan is at once a social critique and a human drama that marked the debut of a new voice in cinema.
Screening will be followed by a Q&A with visiting filmmaker Whit Stillman.