For those postmodern conservatives (and even porchers) wondering what to give ME this year, the gift that will keep on giving is the meticulously enhanced Criterion DVD of the best film by America’s best filmmaker, THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO. Here’s a fine interview with Whit Stillman that properly talks up both this latest version and the many virtues of this most conversational and profound piece of social criticism with theological overtones.
You should also, of course, read the novel THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO WITH COCKTAILS AT PETROSSIAN, which lets you know both how the characters turned out down the road and a lot more about Jimmy Steinway’s theological views. It also provides more evidence in both directions for those who wonder whether Des is really gay, and it makes it more clear than ever that Alice’s mysterious and most beneficial gift of incurable herpes defies analysis. That disease, there’s no denying, cured her of her proud intolerance and led her to appreciate the virtues as well as the limitations of the man who was best for her. That gift causes us to remember that Calvinism and Christianity generally are not only about sin but about grace, about supernatural help in dealing with our foolish ways.
December 9th, 2009 | 1:24 pm
More, More, More!
And that Mockingbird Blog is a great find for me. Scroll down their page for a great intro to the rock band Big Star and a few of their more, oddly enough, Christian songs.
December 9th, 2009 | 10:01 pm
Wow! I’m very, very happy not to be the only person who’s 1) aware of and 2) appreciates that film.
Though I might respectfully disagree about Stillman being America’s best filmmaker- I think film is the one field of art where Americans excel, and we have a large list of potential “bests” to choose from…
December 11th, 2009 | 1:09 pm
It’s nice to find such a pleasant discussion after returning from a long absence. Sorry: I had to write my dissertation. But Peter, do you really think Last Days is Stillman’s best film? Why? It’s certainly more technically accomplished than Metropolitan. But I think it it lacks the sweetness and, in an odd way, French New Wavey exuberance.
December 11th, 2009 | 2:31 pm
You’re obviously talking about alot more than just detachable collars.
December 13th, 2009 | 6:28 pm
I agree that THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO WITH COCKTAILS AT PETROSSIAN adds dimentions to the movie…. especially regarding Jimmy.. whose character is see in a radically different light than in the movie.. were Des view of him at the end seems to define him rather well, from what we saw in the movies.
The stuff of Jimmy’s religiousity and about moon-oriented Catholic girls have more than a ring of truth in it. There is something sobering about the Calvinist tradition when it hits Central Europe that speaks to a WASP’s heart……
December 14th, 2009 | 10:01 am
Sam, Great to have you back. My judgment of the superiority of Disco was just going with the flow of Stillman’s own. Still, Cliff’s astute comments remind us the Disco is both the deepest and most intellectually ambitious of the triology. Metropolitan is more consistently witty and affectionately nostalgic.
December 15th, 2009 | 12:34 am
Carl. Yes you oughta check out Big Star. They have a good X-Mas song called of all things “Jesus Christ.” BTW, Alex Chilton–the leader of the band–is a legend of sorts. With the Boxtops, Big Star, the Panther Burns, and solo career. In Memphis, he was a white soul version of Stax/Volt records. He’s immortalized in the eponymous Replacements tune. Unfortunately Big Star gained some recent nototiety when their song was used for the intro credit music for That 70s Show (that truly horrid show, BTW).
December 15th, 2009 | 2:49 am
Here’s a link to a good Big Star song. The album Sister Lovers is less Stax and more Velvet Underground, but good nonetheless–no heroin songs as far as I know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF8fnoA1VNM&feature=related
December 15th, 2009 | 10:58 am
John, Thanks for the Big Star stuff, which expanded immeasurably my musical literacy. I have to dissent on THAT 70s SHOW. Eventually, of course, it jumped the shark, but there’s a lot to be said for Red.
December 15th, 2009 | 8:58 pm
Peter, I don’t take back my remark about That 70s Show, but agree that in practically every episode I watched (a dozen or so) there is much good to be said about Red.
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