Barcelona

Whit Stillman, USA 1994, 101 minutes

Whit Stillman has only made two films, yet the term `Stillmanesque' is already used to describe a film in which the characters spend a lot of time sitting around in groups talking about anything and everything in a witty and articulate kind of way. His first film, Metropolitan, told the story of a lower-middle class guy trying to get himself moving in high-society circles, which apparently involves sitting around in lavish Manhattan apartments and talking about...well, you know.

In Barcelona we have a similar sort of light social parody, this time set in Barcelona and revolving around two American cousins, one of whom, the somewhat priggish Ted (Taylor Nichols), is living as sales rep for an American company when Fred (Chris Eigeman), an obnoxiously and outspokenly patriotic US Naval officer shows up uninvited and camps out in his apartment. Essentially, this film is a gentle satire of the typical American abroad, endearingly affable but prone to bouts of brashness and total insensitivity towards local traditions and social codes.

This may all sound ghastly, but Ted and Fred are no mere stereotypes; they are shown to be articulate and likeable young men underneath their hard jingoistic exteriors. The banter between the two is beautifully observed and comes across as simultaneously stylised and naturalistic, thanks largely to the effortless performances from the two leads. As the two encounter anti-American sentiments in a number of different situations, an accomplished supporting cast (watch out for Mira Sorvino in an early role) get to tell the other half of the story, while caught in the middle is Ted's ravishing paramour Monserrat (Tushka Bergen). The sun-drenched Spanish locations are simply gorgeous, so you'll have to encounter that awful walking-out-into-the-grey-Edinburgh-drizzle sensation, but it's worth it.

"A thoroughly charming, subtly serious and sneakily captivating movie ****" - Empire

Review by Ben Stephens
Taken from EUFS Programme 1996-97