Ever wondered what happened to erudite indie director Whit Stillman? We do, almost on a daily basis. Stillman’s ‘90s urban haute bourgeoisie trilogy was a first-rate trifecta of sharp wit, wry observations and adultlescent upheaval and his presence has been noticeably absent since 1999’s “The Last Days of Disco” (the two films prior were “Metropolitan” and perhaps our favorite ‘90s movie, “Barcelona”).
Fred: Maybe you can clarify something for me. Since I’ve been, you know, waiting for the fleet to show up, I’ve read a lot, and…
Ted: Really?
Fred: And one of the things that keeps popping up is this about “subtext.” Plays, novels, songs – they all have a “subtext,” which I take to mean a hidden message or import of some kind. So subtext we know. But what do you call the message or meaning that’s right there on the surface, completely open and obvious? They never talk about that. What do you call what’s above the subtext?
Ted: The text.
Fred: OK, that’s right, but they never talk about that.
Not unlike the dry and academic tones of Noah Baumbach, Stillman resurfaced last year to do interviews for the Criterion re-release of his “Metropolitan” debut, and loose project talk was bandied about, but frankly, he’s been nattering on about these scripts and potential movies for almost seven years now.
Last week, Mr. Stillman turned up at the Time 100 party and the gossip mongering jerkoffs at Gawker spent a few moments with him.
The director told them about his upcoming projects: a film set in early 1960s Jamaica, and an adaptation of the Christopher Buckley novel “Little Green Men.” Time managing editor Rick Stengel made a grammatical faux pas that amusingly almost induced a seizure in the scholarly Stillman.
Mr. Stengel said that the magazine had many discussions about “who is going to write about who.” “Whom,” hissed Mr. Stillman. “Who is going to write about whom.”
Charlie: Do you know the film, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise?” When i first saw that title, i though, “Finally, somone is going to tell the truth about the bourgeoise. What a dissapointment. It would be hard to imagine a less fair or accurate portrait.
Cynthia: Well of course, Bunuel is a surrealist. Despising the bourgeoise is part of their credo.
Nick: (disgusted) Where do they get off.
Charlie: The truth is the bourgeoise does have a lot of charm.
Nick: Of course it does, the surrealists were just a bunch of social climbers.
Pardon our skepticism, but Stillman’s been talking up the same few projects seemingly forever. An expat now living in Paris, he told the A/V Club in 2006 that he was working on a Revolutionary War drama and an adaptation of two unfinished Jane Austen novels. The fansite WhitStillman.org can likely painfully detail all the various unfruitful scripts he has mentioned writing or working on since “Disco.” We want to be optimistic, but we’re not entirely convinced these films are going to be made any time soon unfortunately.
However, he did tell the Reno Gazette-Journal that John Malkovich and Peter Peter Saarsgard were attached to “Little Green Men.”
Who knows. Here’s to hoping though.
Download: Brenton Wood – “The Oogum Boogum Song” [“The Last Days of Disco” soundtrack]
Download: Yo La Tengo – “The Last Days of Disco” [A track affectionately named after the film]
Watch: Stillman talks “Barcelona” on Charlie Rose [around the 43: minute mark]