Damsels in Distress
Amongst all the films Pip and I watched together recently, I got the impression that “Damsels in Distress” was his favorite. Considering my incredibly high expectations for it (I mean, it’s a recent Stillman film!) I suppose I was less in awe of the result. Of course this does not mean I was disappoined in the film, it’s a Stillman after all so I absolutely loved it.
Surprisingly, I think the reason why I disliked the film was precisely because it was so contemporary. It’s like an uncanny valley. I have spent enough time at actual Ivy League schools (though as a graduate student, so basically by the sidelines) to know that this Stillman’s caricatured world of ivory tower students kind of exists, but they don’t really. There is a twist to that too: The school looks and feels like an Ivy League, but it’s populated by dumb, pretentious people who are not really rich either. In real life, it’s a tiny, tiny world of people who, thankfully, don’t even really dress like that anymore (though I certainly like the style). Violet, Greta Gerwig’s character is probably most indicative of all. Even within her school, she lives in that little world of hers, surrounded by almost equally delusional people, yet it’s a fun delusion. It’s a more intelletual, better chick flick, or rather it’s making fun of it. It’s something like a satirical combination of chick flick, college movie and Stillman’s beloved musicals, while at the same time generating a lot of love for its characters, even more so than for Stillman’s previous films.
Unlike the main character of “The Last Days of Disco”, Violet is not just your average girl you are supposed to identify with, she is absolutely weird in a lovable way, which makes her a much more interesting character than both Alice and Charlotte together. In this film, Lily is the ‘generic character’ for identification purposes, but even she gets a little spin when she turns out to be a scheming bitch in order to get her guy. Thankfully she fails, which leaves Violet as the main focus of the story (and part of the final main couple of the film) and rightfully so.
The only character I have kind of missed out on are the other two, Rose and Heather, who were ultimately rather one-dimensional. It’s a shame because Stillman is so great at providing an ensemble of interesting characters, but in this case he is forgiven due to Violet’s outstanding character development.
Roger Ebert wrote about Stillman “spoke like someone who had learned the language through sophisticated comic novels”. It’s so true. Maybe this is why I like his movies so much, because I am a huge fan of that kind of humor and language. For me, Stillman is a one of a kind, a filmmaker and storyteller of the type I have never seen before, and I am convinced I will never see again.
PS. I know that I am just like Violet: I have a strong opinion about everything but I don’t think I’m stuck up. Maybe that is why I am such a huge fan of her character.