Films

One of the most the most significant achievements of the American independent film movement of the 1990s, writer-director Whit Stillman’s debut is a sparkling comedic chronicle of a middle-class young man’s romantic misadventures among New York City’s debutante society. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Stillman’s deft, literate script and hilariously high-brow observations mask a tender tale of adolescent anxiety.

It’s Christmas vacation for a group of wealthy Manhattan students, which means attending the season’s seemingly endless series of debutante balls and after-hours parties. This carnival takes an unexpected turn when Tom Townsend, an idealistic and romantically volatile new classmate, enters the fold and incites a chaotic love triangle that leads to the unraveling of the young socialites. The unraveling is only intensified by the fact that the urban haute bourgeoisie society they’re poised to inherit is declining as they speak. 

Discussion with director Whit Stillman.