Customer Reviews

The Last Days of Disco

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Directed by the amazing Whit Stillman ("Barcelona"; "Metropolitan"), "The Last Days of Disco" examines the life of several young, upward, professionals (or "yuppies" for short) during the early 1980's, when the disco craze was dying and the Decade of Decadence was beginning.

Alice (Chloë Sevigny of "Boys Don't Cry") and Charlotte (Kate Beckisndale of "Brokedown Palace") are two young publishing assistants who live as roommates in the city. Living on a love/hate relationship with one another, both girls decide to socialize with New York's club elite at the most popular club in the city.

There, they meet up with the likes of advertising execs and employees, odd club characters such as the Tiger Lady (played by Drew Barrymore's real-life mother, Jaid Barrymore) and others who give the film a unique flavor when it comes to recreating the disco era of the late 1970's/early 1980's.

While I really can't give away the details that moves the film to its' conclusion, all I can say that this film blows away the only other disco-era film that was released around the same time, "Studio 54." While the latter tried to recreate the final days of New York City's most infamous nightspot, it failed to capture the energy that disco era was well-known for. Unlike "Studio 54," instead of revolving around the life of one character, "Last Days" focuses on the lives of several young professionals, which gives it more flavor and attraction.

Personally, Whit Stillman simply is one of the best American directors out there. His films all involve wit, energy, love, and the elements that plague young adults now and then. In one I consider to be one of the best-written scripts in recent years, Stillman pours plenty of wit and insight on what it is to be young and successful in a large city.

Another great thing about this film is its' excellent disco-era soundtrack. Covering such classics such as "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross and "Everybody Dance" by Chic, I almost felt that I was transported to the club in the film. If you loved this film, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the soundtrack.

If you love Disco and/or films about life in New York City, I highly recommend this film. It is one of the best films of 1998, and after watching it I can't wait for Whit Stillman's next project.

If you can't stand to watch another exploding helicopter, "Disco" and the other two Whit Stillman movies are a good antidote. The characters actually say interesting things.

You may want to watch "Metropolitan" before watching "The Last Days of Disco" to understand the world the characters come from. You may be a little misled by watching "Metropolitan" first, though. It's a simple, gentle story while "Barcelona" and "Disco" are sexier and set in more exotic locales.

Some reviewers didn't like these movies because the characters speak articulately in fully-formed, grammatically-correct sentences. I can see where they might mistake it for bad writing or acting. The bio commentary on the "Disco" DVD talks about the film crew being impressed by the Sevigny and Beckinsale's ability to recreate New England prep school speech - an indication that preppies really talk that way. I'm from California where we're all inarticulate, so I wouldn't know. Ultimately, I don't care - people don't break out singing in real life, either, but you wouldn't want to do away with musicals. Notice that the non-preppy characters in these movies talk like "normal" people.

After Metropolitan andn Barcelona, one would expect the acting in The Last Days of Disco to be atrocious. That's not the case. For perhaps the first time, Stillman has managed to fuse a reflective story with decent acting. The result is, I think, a movie that just gets better each time you watch it. The more you watch, the more you realise it's just like a Fitzgerald or Hemmingway novel. The conversation about lady and the tramp, the bitchiness of Kate Beckinsale... it all adds up to a great movie. If you have a bit of time to spare, and you're willing to pay attention to it, watch the movie. Whilst Metropolitan and Barcelona were both great (I'm a big Stillman fan), I think The Last Days of Disco shows the director at a new level of maturity.

The Last Days of Disco is a fantastic movie, but only if you are prepared to really listen to the dialogue.

The thing that I like most about Whit Stillman's movies is his characters - dissatisfied and confused with their lives as they may be. My favourite actor in all of Stillman's movies is Chris Eigeman, who always plays a cynical character, who is offensive to all, but who I still find likeable. In The Last Days of Disco, Eigeman is Des, a cocaine snorting, womanising underboss in popular nightclub.

Look out for the hilarious Lady and the Tramp scene in the movie, as well as the scene where Des snorts some hot coffee because it may contain the same effects as cocaine. This is a movie that gets heavy on dialogue, but is worth it. Even though the characters are pompous, they are extremely well developed and acted.

The Last Days of Disco is a fantastic movie, and for me brought alive the disco era in a way that movies such as Studio 54 did not come near. But only for people who like to really watch movies, not just have them on in the background.

"The Last Days of Disco" recalls a specific time - the very early 1980's. The video opens with a shot of two young women walking down the street. The shot is framed in such a way that you only see the bottom half of their legs. It's a shot that immediately recalls the disco-era classic, "Saturday Night Fever" with it's similar opening - clearly Whit Stillman (who wrote and directed) knows what he's doing.

The film is a sort of coming-of-age story of two book publishing assistants - Alice (well played by Chloe Sevigny who can be seen in the current "Boys Don't Cry") and Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale). Looking to expand their social circle, they frequent a hard-to-get-into nightclub (not mentioned but obviously patterned after New York's famed Studio 54). The more experienced Charlotte ("Maybe in physical terms I'm cuter than you - but you should be much more popular than I am") gives Alice lots of advice - like how she should always try and throw the word "sexy" into her conversation or how Harvard guys can be amazing creeps. She talks of the "tremendous importance of group social life" and claims to oppose "all this ferocious pairing off". She's a bit of a phony, however, which we (like Alice) come to find out. But Stillman rises above making crass judgements about her, he doesn't make fun of her - he essentially likes her, as he does all the characters. This includes Des, whose act is to pretend he's recently discovered he's gay in order to gain sympathy from women, before cruelly dumping them.

Deftly observed, "The Last Days of Disco" is one of the best videos I saw in 1998. It's an extremely talky, almost plotless, CHARACTER-driven story. The talk, however, is often very witty. Take, for example, the debate that films like "Lady and the Tramp" program women to adore jerks. Or the idea that the environmental movement started in the 50's after we all saw "Bambi". This is a terrific film that shines a light on a confusing time - a time many were scarcely prepared for.

With The Last Days of Disco, Whit Stillman completed his loose-knit trilogy of films about doomed Preppies in love. Much like vintage Woody Allen, the characters in Stillman's films exist in a hermetically-sealed world on the Upper East Side of New York City. His characters are affluent and well-educated but with messy relationships. Last Days of Disco sets all of this against the backdrop of the decline of the disco era. It is a testament to Stillman's skill as a filmmaker that he does this all with a fantastic sense of humor and a real affection for his characters, even the ones that aren't all that likable.

For quite some time there had been rumors that the folks at the Criterion Collection were planning a special edition of this film. Stillman had even talked it up in interviews. The previous DVD came and went rather quickly before going out-of-print, fetching steep prices on eBay, so for fans of this film it nice to have Last Days of Disco finally readily available.

There is an audio commentary by director Whit Stillman and actors Chloe Sevigny and Chris Eigeman. Stillman wastes no time diving into the origins of his film and how Winona Ryder was almost cast as Alice but her agent was slow in responding and Sevigny got the role. The actress has a charming, self-deprecating wit and points out her awkward dancing style. Eigeman says that he almost didn't do the film because the studio felt that he wasn't famous enough. He was also worried that he'd be typecast; playing a character similar to the ones he did in Stillman's two previous films. The director speaks eloquently about his interest in disco on this chatty, engaging track.

Also included are four deleted scenes with optional commentary by Stillman, Sevigny and Eigeman. There is a subplot with Jimmy (Astin) that fleshes out his feelings for Alice and Charlotte. There is also more footage of Des outside of the club. It develops his character more and is nice to see, particularly if you're a fan of Eigeman. Stillman puts the footage in context and explains why it was cut.

Stillman reads from his 2000 book, The Last Days of Disco, With Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards, which is a novelization of the film from the point-of-view of Jimmy Steinway and also picks up after the events in the film.

A nice inclusion is a vintage featurette from the time of the film's release. This promotional material features behind-the-scenes footage and soundbites from Stillman and his cast.

"Stills Gallery" features a collection of photographs from the film with captions written by Stillman that consist of personal recollections of making the film.

Finally, there is an original theatrical trailer.

Alice Cooper has said that the problem with Disco was that the middle-aged got into it: If teenagers find people their parents' age in nightclubs, then they may as well stay home and watch Johnny Carson.

We learned in his film "Barcelona" that Whit Stilman is an unrepentent disco fan, and here he has made an ode to the end of the disco era. The story revolves around a group of Manhattan "yuppies" who hang out at a Studio 54-like disco (although it looks like it was shot at Webster Hall).

Chloe Sevigny plays a recent college graduate, Alice, who works for a publishing house and who is pursued by both the disco's womanizing assistant manager, played by Chris Eigemen, and a nice but mentally ill Assistant District Attorney, played by Matt Keeslar. (The ADA is fine as long as he takes his medication.) Meanwhile, Alice's conniving roommate, Charlotte, is trying to entrap a young advertising exec into marriage by getting pregnant. All the while, the disco is under investigation for tax and drug law violations.

With "The Last Days of Disco," Stilman has crafted another humorous and intellectually stimulating film about the young bourgeoisie and their search for love and, sometimes, lust.

Fans of Stilman's earlier films will be interested to see characters from both "Barcelona" and "Metropolitan" making cameos in "The Last Days of Disco."

Having seen this film, sadly the last of Stillman's trilogy, I was glad to see how well put this film was. The soundtrack is particularly good. The film itself reminded me a bit of "Metropolitan" and the character of Tom Townsend, only it was now Sevigny's character. Stillman's films have a melancholy feel to them at times, and justifiably so because life can be that way. His characters, at least one and it's usually the protagonist, are prudes but in a likeable way. I think that is the way to sum up a Stillman film. I don't know if I liked disco music as much prior to becoming a Stillman afficionado or if it came about because of him. In his films I'll miss the tying elements (though not all these elements are prevalent in all three): sharp, witty dialogue, disco music, literary references, dressing sharp and the always present relationships-theme.

I didn't like The Last Days of Disco I loved it.The quik dialoge and intelligent conversations between the characters were great and remeniscent of Barcelona and Metropolitan.The dialoge ranges from serious such as a conversation talking about pregnancy,to a funny and cute conversation dealing with The Lady and the Tramp,the Disney film.

Everyone does a fantastic job in acting but the people who stand out are Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale and Chris Eigeman.To me Chloe Sevingy is us,observing the situation and just watching like us,shes a tender loving person and by the end of the film we love her.Kate Beckinsale is a sassy and bitchy early eightys girl and has mood swings constantly.Chris Eigeman is great as the guy who when he wants to end a realationship tells the girls "I'm Gay",he has the best dialoge in the film.

Whit Stillman did a great job on the film with good direction and great writing I can't wait for him to come out with a new film.The cinematography is great capturing the early eightys and the music is nice too.

If you loved this movie check out Metropolitain and Barcelona.

In my opinion, Whit Stillman's "The Last Days of Disco" is not nearly as good as the director's "Metropolitan" or "Barcelona". The characters are not as intriguing, and the overall effect of the movie is that it does not capture the atmosphere of 1980-81 New York City.

At that time, a certain sleaze and grime pervaded the city. It was an era of dimly-lit, crime-ridden, graffiti-covered subway trains and crime-ridden, gritty, trash-strewn streets. There were two opposite ways in which music and culture reacted to these conditions. The punk movement embraced the chaos of the streets. By contrast, disco papered over the problems with nihilistic glitz and cocaine-fueled glamor. A surface optimism covering over a deep pessimism.

Stillman's 1980-81 New York does not capture this pathos. The New York of "The Last Days of Disco" resembles the more orderly city of the late 1990s and today. Had Stillman's characters been interacting in a more true-to-life, grimy 1980 New York City - rather than a whitewashed one in which the trains are miraculously graffiti-free and the streets are clean and safe - I think the movie would have been much more compelling.