The last days of boogie nights

>> Director Whit Stillman on The Last Days of Disco

by MATTHEW HAYS

There's something strikingly familiar about the latest cinematic disco-era recreation. No, it's not just the fabulous music--though there's plenty of that--nor is it the fashion of the day. The Last Days of Disco smacks not only of the reign of that particular style, but also contains all of the finer ticks of the style of director/writer Whit Stillman.

The Last Days of Disco marks the final part in a loose trilogy of Stillman's that began with Metropolitan (1990) and continued with Barcelona (1994). All three have been dubbed "nightlife comedies," but they have more in common than the after-dark lifestyle; Stillman has become adept at profiling ensembles of young, educated, upwardly mobile types struggling to figure out exactly where in the world--and with whom--they belong.

"I really liked the time," says Stillman, explaining his choice of the early '80s as period. "I found it very cool. My take on it was similar to some of the characters in the film, a sort of overstated enthusiasm. I was making Barcelona when I was sort of struck by the era."

Stillman liked the idea of overlapping his young troupe's soul-searchings (his cast includes Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale and Chris Eigeman) with the end of disco's time (or what was believed to be its end). He also foregrounded his female protagonists more than in his previous two films. "It's based on autobiographical material, but it's not autobiographical in terms of any one character. I got a lot of information from other people. I like having female protagonists, because it's a good distancing mechanism--even though it may be autobiographical in emotion, you have to make it different."

What with the abundant neuroses, urban landscape and messy relationships, numerous critics have drawn comparisons between the work of Stillman and that of Woody Allen. But Stillman draws what he feels are important distinctions. "I don't think there's that much angst [in my films]," he says. "Yes, it's existential, but there's a positive element. I think of Woody Allen as being much darker than I am. For me there's always light at the end of the tunnel--I have a pretty Pollyannaish view of everything. I can deal with the dark stuff, because that happens too.

"He's different from us, because he's a performer, and a brilliant performer, and he can knock off a film a year. Our films I don't feel are that brilliant... I have to write and rewrite--they have a different texture."

And is Stillman concerned about The Last Days of Disco's release timing, being sandwiched in between the popular Boogie Nights and August's 54, the biopic of the legendary Manhattan club Studio 54? "There were a lot of people who thought Boogie Nights was great, and think of it as the disco film, and our film has to somehow continue that. But I think it's a very slight concern. People have this concept of it all as very kitsch.

"With this film we're trying to get beyond all that campy stuff."

The Last Days of Disco opens Friday, June 12