Thirteen years is a long time to have to wait for a film from anybody, but especially when it comes to a voice as distinctive as Whit Stillman's. The writer/director hasn't been heard from since The Last Days of Disco, a brilliant, analytical talker of a film that proved his keen ear for natural dialogue. His style can be described as being somewhere in between a Paul Thomas Anderson and a Joss Whedon. You know it when you hear it.
Something has felt a little bit different about Stillman's latest feature, Damsels in Distress. Starring Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, Megalyn Echikunwoke and Carrie MacLemore as a group of girls at a fictional prep school who use a variety of weird tactics to help others through their boy troubles, the images and even the poster have had a fantasy quirkiness to them. With the release of the first trailer, that tone is confirmed, but also that Stillman doesn't appear to have lost his touch over the years.
Damsels in Distress will hit theaters on April 6th....
