Disco Dancer

Whit Stillman turns his cameras on the flashy lifestyles of 'Last Days of Disco'

INTERVIEW BY STEVE RAMOS

These are anxious days for Whit Stillman. A four-year rent battle with his landlord has led to an eviction from his SoHo apartment. So a hotel room has become a makeshift home, while his two young daughters finish the school year. He's also busy laptop shopping. Agreeing to write a diary for the Microsoft online magazine Slate, Stillman, at age 46, finds himself grudgingly joining the Internet with his first e-mail hook-up. Oh, yes, there's also this new film of his coming out called The Last Days of Disco. So it's understandable if the veteran indie filmmaker has a lot on his mind.

"It turns out my apartment wasn't rent stabilized after all," Stillman says, speaking from New York City. "My landlord tried to triple my rent and I finally lost my apartment last Sunday. So we have a summer rental for two months and we're going over to Europe for a nine-month sabbatical." The timing for their extended stay at his wife's Barcelona home couldn't be better. The Last Days of Disco will open in Europe this fall, and Stillman will be able to publicize the film. Until then, Stillman has the film's American release to think about. Not that he's in any rush. Stillman's life has always seemed to move at its own unique pace.

Good things often come to those who wait. So it's no surprise Stillman was 38 when he shot his debut film Metropolitan (1990), a witty drama about a group of preppies and debutantes on Manhattan's Upper East Side in the late '60s. Stillman's path to filmmaking was always meandering at best. He graduated from Harvard in 1973, working in publishing. Traveling to Spain in 1980 for his marriage, Stillman read an article in Variety on Spanish films. His newfound knowledge came in handy. Later, at a dinner party, Stillman casually talked about the local film industry and was hired to sell Spanish films worldwide. Stillman even acted in many Spanish films Ñ playing comic American roles. The money came in handy. At age 37, Stillman took a continuing education class in film from New York University. He also financed the $230,000 for his debut effort, Metropolitan. The film was a surprise art-house hit. It also led to the production of Stillman's second film, Barcelona (1994), based on his own experiences in Spain.

Completing Barcelona's sound mix, Stillman had the initial ideas for The Last Days of Disco. His story, about three young female college graduates who frequent Studio 54, seemed the perfect follow-up to his previous two young adult "dramedies." Now, four years later, Stillman sees Disco as the final part of a three-film series. It's also a point of closure for a particular theme of storytelling. Stillman is aware the film's disco context is drawing plenty of attention. In his eyes, however, The Last Days of Disco is about much more than just its retro backdrop.

"Maybe it's like a goldfish in its bowl, but I don't really see it as being about its sensible subject," says Stillman. "I don't think the film is about the disco movement, and I don't think it's particularly about young, privileged youth. I think that's the chosen group where more universal identity politics are being played. The same drama or comedy could exist in many different groups. It just happens to be the material I'm stuck with. I create work about the people I know and not the people I don't know. It's not sociology on the screen. It's characters on screen and a sociological dimension."

It's not as if Stillman never went to Studio 54. He even took his future wife, Irene Perez-Porro, there on their first date. Getting her into the exclusive nightclub, Stillman says, probably helped seal their relationship. Stillman insists the film is not based on his own life story. People watching The Last Days of Disco are not going to see the Whit Stillman story.

"It's not autobiographical. It's not semi-autobiographical. It's fiction. But it's based on information and the people I knew in the period we're talking about, and it becomes almost personal because you've had a memory of that story for 15 years."

Certainly, Stillman's obsession for detail has only fueled the film's biographical rumors. Stillman works hard at perfecting the film's production. He remembers watching Hollywood's movies about student protests during his own college-protest days. The films all looked so fake, as if the banners were made at some Hollywood set shop. Stillman didn't want audiences finding fault with his recreated Studio 54. It was important that his film look authentic.

So an old Loews Theater in Jersey City, N.J., was converted into the disco, and 400 extras were spray painted gold. Budgeted at $8 million, The Last Days of Disco was the most elaborate production Stillman ever experienced. He has no regrets and he's not interested in telling some ordinary slice-of-life story. It's pizzazz, says Stillman, that makes Disco so enjoyable.

"I don't make movies about riding the subway to work, walking out and getting a cup of coffee or going to the office and making a phone call," says Stillman. "You try to find those moments when they're more dramatic and interesting. We actually have a scene involving taking a subway from work and walking around the office and talking on a phone, but it's not the film's essence."

Stillman never planned to become the next Stanley Kubrick. He understands when people ask why it's taken four years to make each of his films. They don't realize, he says, that he writes, produces, as well as directs each film. Wearing three hats extends the creative process. Nevertheless, Stillman knows independent film has treated him well.

He remembers when there were few opportunities to make movies outside Hollywood. "When I came out of college in 1973, in addition to the dancing wasteland, there was a filmmaking wasteland. It was all in Hollywood, and who knew how to get into it? I think the liberating films were Return of the Secaucus Seven, Stranger than Paradise and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It. We were trying to figure now how to do Metropolitan from the introduction of Spike Lees' She's Gotta Have It and how much money he actually spent and how he did it."

When Metropolitan took off, Stillman gained entrance to this small club of indie filmmakers. But he has seen the independent film business change. "With the success of video, independent films became commercial. It's like when they decided they could make money in TV news. The fact they could changes its nature." Now, Stillman says, independent films are cast with stars, just like studio projects. Production costs have also increased.

Of course, Stillman says, with increased costs come greater expectations for profit. So Stillman plans to keep his productions within a moderate indie budget. It's what allows him to have final cut. It also allows him to cast the film as he sees fit. As long as his films make a profit, Stillman knows there will be few creative battles.

Stillman has no qualms about drawing a line in the sand when it comes to his movies. Told that a contemporary version of one of the disco songs would help drive soundtrack sales, Stillman refused to budge. A '90s version of the song would diminish the film's integrity. So Stillman wasn't surprised when ad support for the film's soundtrack was yanked. But the film remained the way he wanted it. Although he considers himself first and foremost an artist, Stillman is not blind to the realities of the business of movie-making. "I care about the business side of things," he says. "A film's marketing reflects the film itself. I don't want to trick people into the theater who don't want to be there."

Initial exit polls are favorable and Stillman is confident that Disco will find its audience. He also knows that beating the summer's other disco film, 54, out of the gate will help box office.

"I heard about the 54 idea about a year and a half ago, and my initial reaction was very positive, because that film and its initial agenda would cover just the things I didn't want to cover. I thought it would take some of the heat off my film. For some reason people would think because it's got the name disco that I'm going to do some sort of John Travolta film. By dealing with the specifics of Studio 54 and Steve Rubell, that film (54) would take the heat off our film and we could cover what we wanted to cover."

Not that Stillman doesn't appreciate all the extra attention his film is receiving by being part of a disco wave. As long as people understand what to expect from his film, Stillman is confident audiences will leave happy.

"I think for us the disco title is a double- edged sword," he says. "For some reason people might expect Boogie Nights which really isn't a disco film. It was about the porn industry in Southern California. This film is really authentic. It's really the way it was. We're doing something more specific. It's the '80s and the red velvet rope clubs in Manhattan. I think overall it's positive to have a subject matter that's interesting to people."

True to his schedule, Stillman has plans for his next film, a drama set in Revolutionary War America. He plans to start on the screenplay right away. Of course, that doesn't mean the film will arrive any sooner.

"There's a wonderful feeling of escapism that comes with thinking about the next project before it becomes too serious," says Stillman. For now, his mind reflects back on his own disco moments. All the time he spent working on the Disco screenplay has made him nostalgic.

"I remember all those years of worrying about your social life and the pining for someone else romantically that you don't know so well. I've learned that memories come back with a sort of bittersweet feeling built in." ©

CityBeat, Vol. 4, Issue 29; June 11-17, 1998