Metropolitan (1990 film)

Metropolitan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWhit Stillman
Written byWhit Stillman
Produced byWhit Stillman
Starring
CinematographyJohn Thomas
Edited byChristopher Tellefsen
Music by
Production
companies
  • Westerly Films[1]
  • Allagash Films[1]
Distributed byNew Line Cinema[1]
Release dates
  • January 20, 1990 (1990-01-20) (Sundance)
  • August 3, 1990 (1990-08-03) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$225,000
Box office$7 million[3]

Metropolitan is a 1990 American romantic comedy-drama film produced, written and directed by Whit Stillman, in his feature directorial debut. The film concerns the lives of a group of wealthy young socialites during debutante season in Manhattan. In addition to some of their debutante parties, it covers their frequent informal after-hours gatherings at a friend's Upper East Side apartment, where they discuss life, philosophy and their fate; form attachments, romances and intrigues; and react to an interesting but less well-to-do newcomer.

Metropolitan was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 63rd Academy Awards.[4] The film is often considered the first of a trilogy of Stillman films set in the 1980s and portraying privileged young adults, followed chronologically (but not release-wise) by The Last Days of Disco (1998) and Barcelona (1994).[5]

  1. ^ a b c "Metropolitan". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  2. ^ "Metropolitan". British Board of Film Classification. July 2, 1990. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  3. ^ Klady, Leonard (October 2, 1995). "Indie niche getting packed with product". Variety. p. 13.
  4. ^ "Ghost Wins Best Original Screenplay: 1991 Oscars". YouTube. March 20, 2013. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  5. ^ "A Whit Stillman Trilogy: Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.