Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2012)

[domino harvey]

NEW WHIT STILLMAN MOVIE SHOOTING THIS SUMMER: Damsels in Distress

[Murdoch]

That was quite a break.

[domino harvey]

Greta Gerwig starring, starts filming in two weeks. She plays a character "who runs a suicide-prevention center at a liberal arts college. She prevents suicides through the powers of Thirties song-and-dance numbers."

[mfunk9786]

Greta Gerwig starring, starts filming in two weeks. She plays a character "who runs a suicide-prevention center at a liberal arts college. She prevents suicides through the powers of Thirties song-and-dance numbers."

If Greta Gerwig danced the jitterbug with me, I could easily be coaxed out of committing suicide.

[Matt]

The idea (and star) of this movie is so appealing that even I would consider overcoming my extreme dislike of Whit Stillman movies to see it.

[John Cope]

A terrific new profile of Stillman upon completion of his first feature in 12 years.

[tarpilot]

terribly excited for the new one. after finishing Last Days of Disco i hadn't wanted to dance like an asshole so much since the end credits of Demme's Something Wild

[domino harvey]

A little more info on Damsels in Distress

Gerwig spoke to Collider about “No Strings Attached,” and they managed to tease out some new information about the Stillman film from the actress. Firstly, and most importantly, the film seems to be set for a fall release, with a debut at a film festival, possibly Toronto, looking like a lock. As for “Damsels in Distress,” Gerwig seems as excited as the rest of us that the director’s behind the camera again: “I was waiting for a very long time for that man, Whit Stillman to make another movie, and then I got to be in it!... It’s very cool. I utterly worship him as a writer and as a film maker.”

Gerwig also confirmed some previously rumored plot details about the project: “I play a character named Violet. It takes place at a liberal arts college on the East Coast and I run a suicide prevention centre where I help suicidal and depressed students overcome their tendencies through staging musicals with them, and teaching them how to tap dance and sing in musicals. And helping them dress well and wear nice perfume. And I have a congery of girls, that kind of follow me around. But then it’s kind of the perils of love, and just these wonderfully eccentric characters.”

[mfunk9786]

Really?!

[Jeff]

Several production stills

[domino harvey]

Removed. Anyone save them by chance?

[Professor Wagstaff]

I tracked down the stills over at some Adam Brody fan site.

[Cold Bishop]

Here's the rest of themShow

Why do I feel this film is going to end in an avatar?

[domino harvey]

Thanks dudes. It certainly looks like a Stillman movie!

[Cold Bishop]

Does anyone have any idea where I would have seen the chick in white (6th photo)? It's bothering the hell out of me?

[Jeff]

Does anyone have any idea where I would have seen the chick in white (6th photo)? It's bothering the hell out of me?

IMDb says her name is Carrie MacLemore. It looks like she was in an episode of Gossip Girl last year, and did a couple of other TV shows as a teenager.

[swo17]

Literally every time my wife asks me lately "Where do I know that actor/actress?" the answer turns out to be Gossip Girl. I think it might actually be the only show she watches.

[domino harvey]

Film is now titled Violet Wister's Damsels in Distress and will be distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Classics

[domino harvey]

There's a little thumbnail interview in this month's Nylon with one of the actors from this that reveals, somewhat surprisingly, that the dancing in the film is of the country line variety

[Tom Hagen]

Is Eigeman casted in this?

[domino harvey]

A Stillman fan on Tumblr has seen the film and offers this gushy take

SpoilerShow

I loved it. Once again, I left the film deeply disappointed that these people do not exist in real life. Whit Stillman’s characters are insane, and wonderfully so. It’s surprising to find yourself falling in love with total snobs with delusions of grandeur as you watch them tap-dance around pseudologia fantastica (pathological lying, but how much more awesome is that term?). But in every movie, you do. At least, I do. Because they’re also nostalgic and funny and have original thoughts—an astonishingly rare thing to have.

I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill, carefully-engineered quirk like playing a ukulele (I’m looking’ at you, Zooey Deschanel). Puh. When there’s a thought process behind “originality,” as in, “How awesome and edgy would it be if I started collecting typewriters and vinyl?!”, don’t you kind of miss the point of individuality? Quirk, much like truthiness, should come from your gut; not from what the street vendors in Williamsburg tell you is cool.

And so it does in Stillman movies. Just like you kind of had to love Nick Smith in Metropolitan for his devotion to UHBs, you have to love Violet (Greta Gerwig) for her resolve to help the depressed through tap-dancing and the olfactory benefits of complementary motel soap, and Charlie (Adam Brody) for his sadness at the decline of decadence (“Take homosexuality—it used to have some real elegance. Now it’s just muscle men and Kathy Griffin. I’m not gay, but in another era it might have held some appeal”). These ideas are bizarre and probably pretty offensive. But the characters so thoroughly believe in them that you can’t not admire them for it.

[Jeff]

Thankfully, it's back to just Damsels in Distress, and it's closing the Venice Film Festival.

[dad1153]

Is Eigeman casted in this?

Nope. :(

[domino harvey]

Three clips from the film -- Wow, Stillman hasn't missed a beat while he's been away

[bottled spider]

Dare I hope it, this could be his best yet.