(USA, 99 min.)
Written and directed by Whit Stillman
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, Carrie MacLemore,
Megalyn Echikunwoke, Hugo Becker, Adam Brody.
It’s been fourteen years since Whit Stillman’s The Last Days of Disco was released and he
is back with a vengeance! Not a sign of wear is to be seen on Stillman’s latest
pic, which is just as fresh, witty, and derisive as his last one. Exceptionally
well-written and delivered by a quartet of dead-pan damsels, Damsels in Distress is a scathingly
funny film.
The damsels are led by Violet, a laconic do-gooder played by
Greta Gerwig with a blank stare and a terrific delusion of grandeur. She’s much
like a modern day Hilly Holbrook, minus the poop pie. Violet wants to save the
world by creating a new dance craze that unites the mopey masses in a
large-scale euphoria of bodily movements and easy steps towards good vibes. In
the mean-time, however, Violet runs a suicide prevention centre on the campus
of Seven Oaks College. Along with her fellow damsels Rose and Heather, played
by the hilarious duo of Megalyn Echikunwoke and Carrie MacLemore, Violet helps
suicidal or clinically depressed students by offering tap dancing lessons and
some free donuts.
Violet explains her campus plans and earnest outlook to a
new recruit named Lily, played by Analeigh Tipton (Crazy, Stupid, Love.). Lily recently transferred to Seven Oaks
because, according to Violet, “she either failed out or was severely unhappy.”
Note that Violet never bothers to ask which.
Lily and Violet start to clash when a boy takes interest in
Lily. Whilst out with her friends at a bar, Charlie (Adam Brody) sends over a
round of drinks. Lily feels a mixed sensation of flattery/distress and turns to
her friends for help. Rose quickly judges these free drinks as a classic move
that defines Charlie as a playboy or operator type, but Violet acknowledges
that since drinks are expensive, the move is therefore gentlemanly. Regardless,
the drinks lead to much tension, especially since Violet was recently dumped by
her boyfriend and is finding herself in a tailspin.
Throughout Damsels in
Distress, Stillman offers a clever satire on twentysomethings circa 2012.
It’s a bit like The Last Days of Disco meets
Mean Girls, except that the quartet
of damsels all sport trendy pastels and sprout words that show their
over-privileged, over-educated nature. The damsels also pretend to be far more
sensitive than the teens of Lindsay Lohan’s clique, which is something that
Stillman captures particularly well by having the damsels begin nearly every
phrase, statement, or response with a dry, “yes.” Despite the onslaught of
affirmatives, though, the college
life of Damsels in Distress is ruled
by semantic nitpicking, hyper-sensitivity, and an outlook on the world floored
by book smarts and an overall ignorance to the realities of life.
With an upbeat score and some handsome cinematography by Doug
Emmett, Damsels in Distress is
deceptively light and fluffy. Stillman’s film also features some Frasier-ish title cards that accentuate
the drollness of the damsels’ distress, and a random dance sequence just for
the hell of it. It’s really the characterization, though, and the spot-on wit that
will have you dancing whilst you exit the theatre.
Do I recommend Damsels
in Distress? Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Damsels in Distress is currently playing at the Varsity in Toronto. It opens in Ottawa at The Bytowne on May 18 and plays at the Mayfair July 9, 11, and 12.
*Photos courtesy Sony Pictures Classics
