An hour into Whit Stillman’s 1994 film, Barcelona, the protagonist, Ted Boynton (Taylor Nichols), considers using “maneuver x” in his stalled romantic life. He’s an American working in the Spanish branch of an auto conglomerate, looking for love in the titular city’s post-Franco, sexually liberated nightlife. As Ted explains to his cousin Fred (Chris Eigeman) – visiting as an underqualified scout for a naval diplomatic mission – the sales tactic of “maneuver x” involves removing all pressure and allowing the customer to cross the threshold themselves. No tricks, no cloying, no badgering. Fred thinks the move is just another way of “playing it cool”, and it’s a handy metonym for the film. Barcelona plays it very, very cool.
Which isn’t to say Stillman’s second film, after his Oscar-nominated Metropolitan, is itself cool. Ted likes Glen Miller. He opens conversations with “You know how at parties, everybody talks about marketing?” If you want cool, look to Stillman’s The Last Days of Disco, where Chloë Sevigny frequents an unnamed Studio 54.
