Friday, October 25 | 5:30 pm
Whit Stillman followed his enchanting indie breakthrough Metropolitan with another clever and garrulous comedy of manners, this one with a darker edge. Marking its 25th anniversary this year, Barcelona is a tart and chilly romantic comedy about love-starved upper-class men adrift in a foreign city rife with anti-American sentiment. A pair of preppy yet constitutionally mismatched American cousins—a salesman and a navy officer—argue about romance and politics while working in the beautiful Spanish city of the film’s title. Set during “the last decade of the cold war,” Barcelona explores topics both heady (American exceptionalism, Cold War foreign policy) and hilarious (the ins and outs of international dating, the proper shaving method) while remaining a constantly witty delight, featuring a sharp young cast that includes Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman, and Mira Sorvino.
Director Whit Stillman | 1994 | In English and Spanish with English subtitles | 101 minutes | PG-13 (for drug content and a brief sex scene) | DCP