The Last Days of Disco

Movie Information

In Brief: The unexpected success of Barcelona (1994) helped secure the making of Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco (1998), Stillman's most expensive and elaborate film. This time his film is set in the early 1980s — right when disco is breathing its last and the club that all the characters flock to is on the verge of being closed for illegal activities. You don't have to like disco to love the movie, however, because it taps into the inherent sadness of the end of an era and the passing of youth. The Asheville Film Society will screen The Last Days of Disco Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. in Theater Six at The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.
Score:

Genre: Comedy
Director: Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress)
Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Chris Eigeman, Mackenzie Astin
Rated: R

last days3

 

Viewers who liked Whit Stillman’s first two films — Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994) — should find much to enjoy in Stillman’s third (and most elaborate) film The Last Days of Disco. It employs the same sardonic, deadpan humor, the same sense of pain underneath it all and the same “end-of-an-era” sense of loss and longing — all while still being a dryly amusing comedy centered on well-spoken, likable, damaged and fairly absurd young people. The Last Days of Disco also takes one of its stars — Chris Eigeman — from the earlier films, and characters from both films make brief appearances. (It adds to the pleasure if you catch these references, but it’s not essential.)

 

last days4

 

Set in “the very early ’80s” when disco was fading fast, the film’s actual focus is mostly on two hopeful up-and-coming book editors (readers, actually) — Chloë Sevigny (climbing out of the Harmony Korine sewer) and Kate Beckinsale (before Pearl Harbor and the Underworld movies made her something of a walking punchline) — who spend as much spare time as possible at the film’s vaguely Studio 54-ish disco in search of love and validation. To them — and to most of the characters — the world of the disco is both the social and intellectual center of the universe. To these folks, this might as well be Paris in the 1920s.

 

lastdays5

 

On the surface, this may sound ludicrous or at least delusional on the part of the characters — especially, if you were hostile to disco at the time. (Of course, we now know that there were far worse things awaiting music than disco.) But the end-of-an-era tone — not to mention that all Whit Stillman characters seem to live in a fantasy out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel — makes it work. The film celebrates the era and its music, but is keenly aware of its shallowness and absurdity. It’s all pretty marvelous — at once funny and touching but never asking for sympathy. We like its characters not so much for their debatable qualities, but for their awkward attempts to present themselves (to themselves) as so much more clever and worldly than they are.

The Asheville Film Society will screen The Last Days of Disco Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. in Theater Six at The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

SHARE
About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.