Metropolitan (1990)

It would make very little difference if the story of Metropolitan would take place in 1880, rather than 1980. This is Edith Wharton territory: the life of the 'aristocrats', their boredom and their social, claustrophobic circles in which slander and back-stabbing abound. And - debutante balls! Whit Stillman's film is wittily engrossing. Rather than being driven by plot, the film ambles through a specific social milieu. The central characters are all membors of a New York clique. They are young, terribly rich and well, quite repulsive types. Then there's one guy from a not-so-wealthy background who is drawn into their world of partying and plotting. They are kids who seem to occupy a juvenile universe of there own, largely abandoned by the older folks.  They seem to be extremely far from the rest of society as well. These kids, dressed in tuxedos and evening dresses, sit in parlors gossiping about the lastest scandals and the much-told legends about naughty boys and troubled girls. For this reason, the outsider, a guy who talks about French socialists and does not live on Park Avenue, offers some fresh blood. Like in a Wharton book, its all about the value system and who is socially recognized as complying with the rules. Part F Scott Fitzgerald, part Brett Easton Ellis, Metropolitan is a study of juvenile cruelty and a ghost-like class system.