Comments on: Barcelona (1994, Whit Stillman) http://www.thestopbutton.com/2009/02/27/barcelona-1994/ distinct . . . diverse . . . divisive . . . snobby. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:10:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Joseph "Jon" Lanthier http://www.thestopbutton.com/2009/02/27/barcelona-1994/comment-page-1/#comment-4147 Joseph "Jon" Lanthier Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:43:30 +0000 http://www.thestopbutton.com/2009/02/27/barcelona-1994/#comment-4147 My intense ardor for Whit Stillman's trilogy is such that it pains me to hear even the slightest hint of criticism...but even I have to admit that "Barcelona" is probably the weakest of the three (not, however, by much, and I've actually seen "Barcelona" far more times than either "Metropolitan" or "The Last Days of Disco"). You do a fine job of teasing out the shortcomings that I'm too much of a gushing fanboy to admit; however, I think you might be a little hard on Nichols. As the straight half of a comic duo he's a lousy foil, true enough, but he's an appropriately nebbish protagonist who seems at all times in over his head. Some of my favorite scenes don't even feature Eigeman's caustic wit, such as when Nichols dances around his apartment to "Pennsylvania 6500" while reading portions of scripture that he feels can be applied to sales management (!). The film's Euro-American juxtaposition would also fail without Nichols' unflinching innocence: how many adult films of late have featured such a direct but vernacularly restrained expression of disgust as "I hate your guts"? I think Nichols more or less IS the film, and though the narrative does dissolve towards the end I was satisfied with the nearly Shakespearean romantic pairing-off that occurred. Also, a common line between my wife and I is: "Maybe it IS too early for dancing!"<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4147','Joseph \"Jon\" Lanthier'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4147','Joseph \"Jon\" Lanthier','My intense ardor for Whit Stillman\'s trilogy is such that it pains me to hear even the slightest hint of criticism...but even I have to admit that \"Barcelona\" is probably the weakest of the three (not, however, by much, and I\'ve actually seen \"Barcelona\" far more times than either \"Metropolitan\" or \"The Last Days of Disco\"). You do a fine job of teasing out the shortcomings that I\'m too much of a gushing fanboy to admit; however, I think you might be a little hard on Nichols. As the straight half of a comic duo he\'s a lousy foil, true enough, but he\'s an appropriately nebbish protagonist who seems at all times in over his head. Some of my favorite scenes don\'t even feature Eigeman\'s caustic wit, such as when Nichols dances around his apartment to \"Pennsylvania 6500\" while reading portions of scripture that he feels can be applied to sales management (!). The film\'s Euro-American juxtaposition would also fail without Nichols\' unflinching innocence: how many adult films of late have featured such a direct but vernacularly restrained expression of disgust as \"I hate your guts\"? I think Nichols more or less IS the film, and though the narrative does dissolve towards the end I was satisfied with the nearly Shakespearean romantic pairing-off that occurred. \r\n\r\nAlso, a common line between my wife and I is: \"Maybe it IS too early for dancing!\"'); return false;">Quote</a></div> My intense ardor for Whit Stillman’s trilogy is such that it pains me to hear even the slightest hint of criticism…but even I have to admit that “Barcelona” is probably the weakest of the three (not, however, by much, and I’ve actually seen “Barcelona” far more times than either “Metropolitan” or “The Last Days of Disco”). You do a fine job of teasing out the shortcomings that I’m too much of a gushing fanboy to admit; however, I think you might be a little hard on Nichols. As the straight half of a comic duo he’s a lousy foil, true enough, but he’s an appropriately nebbish protagonist who seems at all times in over his head. Some of my favorite scenes don’t even feature Eigeman’s caustic wit, such as when Nichols dances around his apartment to “Pennsylvania 6500″ while reading portions of scripture that he feels can be applied to sales management (!). The film’s Euro-American juxtaposition would also fail without Nichols’ unflinching innocence: how many adult films of late have featured such a direct but vernacularly restrained expression of disgust as “I hate your guts”? I think Nichols more or less IS the film, and though the narrative does dissolve towards the end I was satisfied with the nearly Shakespearean romantic pairing-off that occurred.

Also, a common line between my wife and I is: “Maybe it IS too early for dancing!“

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