The Last Days of Disco (1998)

The main thing about "The Last Days of Disco" is that it makes you want to dance. I never felt so constrained in a theater seat in my life. And director Whit Stilman does this almost unconsciously. Oft times the characters are seen dancing at the disco (simply called "The Club") here with no dialogue and it's all we can do not to run to the front of the screen and join them.

Not that most of these people are anyone you would want to know. They are, with one exception, the most obnoxious young urbanites you could possibly want to meet. Even the cute guys in the film (Mackenzie Astin, Sean Patrick Flannery) are irritating. But the duo who really drive us insane are also the two that end up together at the end of the film; Kate Beckinsale creates a mean-spirited bitch named Charlotte who has that uncanny knack of thinking she is subtle when she has just hit you over the head with a verbal mallet, Meanwhile Christopher Eigeman (who has appeared in Stilman's two previous films) plays Des, a womanizer and a drug addicted motormouth Yuppie who insists he is none of these things.

They are joined by Astin (who still looks like "Andy" on "The Facts of Life") as a struggling Advertising man; Flannery as a rather nice guy whom circumstances just makes a creep; Matthew Keeslar as Josh, a former classmate turned Assistant District Attorney, who has a history of some odd behavior for which he now takes lithium. (Josh tries to be a nice guy but generally comes across as self-righteous and persnickety. When we learn of his medical condition, we expect him to freak out at any moment; And Matthew Ross as Dan, who works with Charlotte and Alice and is sort of the antithesis of them. He acts as a bit of an antagonist before he ingrains himself within the group. Again, as with most of the men, he is arrogant and unthinking. For a group with such expensive education, straight out of college, these characters are pretty one-dimensional and not very intuitive.

But the star of the film is Chloe Sevigny. As Alice, the rather mousy and unsure of herself employee of a publishing company. As Charlotte's victim for her verbal abuse and the object of several misunderstandings which make her appear as something she is not, Alice becomes our hero. Or, at least, we'd like her to be. Wanting desperately to see her succeed, we see her instead become another kind of victim, a worse kind. And when she seems to get to a shot at happiness at the end of the film, it is all the more saddening when we think of her obvious impending fate.

Stilman is an excellent writer whose knack at verbosity and urbanite angst have often been praised (and derided) by critics and he proves his talents again in this arena with this film. Setting the piece in the early 80's, Stilman brings us character who have a relevance today as well as in the context of their time period. Although numerous camp references are made and some vernacular of the time is used, the story isn't a period piece per se. (This is no "Dazed and Confused" or other nostalgia piece). Stilman simply uses the time to remind us of our past and how little we have really changed since then. We only wonder how his characters have changed. Where they are now (although a few fates are obvious). Did Beckinsale's Charlotte end up the bitchy housewife married to a lawyer she claimed she would never become? It's interesting to think about what might have happened to these characters, the changes they've made. The changes we are allowed to witness them undergo, in particular Sevigny, are amazing. Stilman is so adept at bringing us the little touches, he paints with such small strokes, that it is only when we step back that we can see the big picture. His characters are amazing and they have the most intriguing conversations. The sociological implications of two Disney cartoons ("Lady and the Tramp" and "Bambi") are discussed as is the meaning of being a Yuppie, intellect, education, sociology in general, employment and careers, and disco as a lifestyle. And of course, sex. Sex and relationships are the true themes of the film. Oddly what isn't discussed is music, clothes and fads. These are more serious minded individuals - or at least they think they are.

Stilman's film has a lush elegance to it, as if everything here were gilded in gold. In fact, those metallic colors like silver and gold are used quite effectively. This is the end of disco so loud colors have somewhat faded, there are few reds and blues and greens and instead these muted, almost grey colors are left. The color has sort of washed out of these characters lives, leaving the base metals and the few remaining indignant pigments that refuse to break free.

At the end of the film, disco is dead. The backlash against it is explored slightly with the exploding of numerous disco records in Chicago by radio station WLUP and the Disco Sucks slogans popping up here and there. But as seems to be their wont, the characters here don't see the signs of impending doom. It's odd that this is so, but probably quite realistic. The trouble coming for "The Club" where Des works is hinted at openly for several minutes (in film time) before it happens but no one seems to see it coming. Likewise, the end of the fad, the lifestyle, that is disco is also obviously impending, but the characters, apparently, are to close to see it coming. Or maybe the music is too loud and the glare from the mirror ball (not to mentioned the cocaine) is obscuring their vision.

Finally, when the characters meet at the films end, one of them explains that the bottom just dropped out of disco record sales, according to his friend at Casablanca records. Another laments the end of disco while a third pontificates on it's lasting beauty. It will survive, he claims. It will return, "Maybe not in our lifetime," but someday.

The film ends oddly. Where one might expect an indication of the next big thing to be seen coming, there isn't. What was the next big thing musically in the mid-80's? There wasn't one really. Maybe rap. Maybe Motley Crew-esque Glam metal? But instead of having one of these phenomenon confront our group, Stilman has them celebrate the end of the era by dancing on the subway. It starts as a small and cleaver reaction to the movement of the train and grows into a complete cinematic dance segment, where even the commuters on the platform are caught in the groove. It starts as a small swaying to the ever-present modern machinery beat and turns into a full-fledged dance craze. Much like disco itself.

Note:

Also in the film is Jennifer Beales, Taylor Nichols (in sort of a cameo), Burr Steers, David Thorton, Tara Subkoff and Mark McKinney.

Stilman also wrote the script and acts as a producer.

Original music by Mark Suozzo. Pop songs by Carol Douglas, Chic, Alicia Bridges, Diana Ross, Evelyn Champagne King, The O'Jays, Andrea True Connection, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, Sister Sledge, Amii Stewart, Cheryl Lynn, Michael Zager Band, Norma Jean, Blondie, The Jewels, The Chi-Lies, and Dean Martin.

The film intentionally avoided many of the overexposed disco hits, such as Donna Summer and Beegees tunes, and instead concentrated on the "Philadelphia" sound of Gamble and Huff, who are mentioned in the film as is Philadelphia International. The music of Chic is particularly prevalent.

(An interesting bit of disco trivia from the website for the film: Chic's "Le Freak" was written when the group was turned away from Studio 54 at a party that was given partially in their honor. The tunes original title was "Fuck Studio 54").

Also mentioned or referenced in the film are "The Wizard of Oz," and "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." Stilman's two previous films, "Metropolitan" and "Barcelona" are referenced in the film when characters from those works are seen in "The Club." I wanted to create a place where "everyone you know and everyone you don't know" comes, said Stilman.

Filmed in New York.

An unfortunate name in the credits: Production Accountant is Liz Dykehouse.

Review written in 1998

Report Card

Script: A

Acting: A+

Cinematography\Lighting: A+

Special Effects\Make Up: A+

Music: A+

Final Grade: A+