Customer Reviews

Barcelona and Metropolitan: A Tales of Two Cities (2 Screenplays)

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Whit Stillman's reputation as a filmmaker continues to grow. Recently The Last Days Of Disco was met with a respectable showing in popular movies. This book, however, reminds us of his more obscure beginnings.

Certainly Stillman is known for his slow style, often hiding huge plot developments within seemingly endless dialogue. The main problem with this is that the dialogue is so engrossing one can miss what's going on. This combination of screenplays (including what is still my favorite film in Metropolitan) allows one to revisit the dialogue and look at it from other angles.

This compilation is made even more worthwhile with the inclusion of cut scenes which shed more light onto the characters, especially Audrey and Sally from Metropolitan. Overall at full price this book would still be a bargain.

In a time that has seen independent cinema become a genre in and of itself, it has become harder and harder to spot something worth viewing, or in this case read. Whit Stillman has created two stories that deal with that all to common emotion--love, blended with a "well-read" background of ideals, and a fantastic cast, he has designed stories unparallaled by any other. His focus is on the world he surrounds his characters with, and how it molds and shapes who they are. Never having all the answers, just knowing all the questions.