Damsels in Distress (2011)

Director Whit Stillman

Director Whit Stillman is back with an exquisitely whimsical comedy, this time in campus settings and with skillfully made comments about the world’s insanity. The former mumblecore starlet Greta Gerwig depicts a young and (at least if you ask herself) philanthropic student, who spends her free time preventing suicide among students. Mainly by stuffing them with doughnuts or forcing them to tap dance. The beautiful cinematography by Doug Emmett captures girls—the damsels—in all their pastel glory, unafraid of heightening the nostalgia concerning campus life. Stillman captures the small details in the girls’ behavior; their irrationalities, oddities and quirks. All the small cracks in the characters’ otherwise spotless appearances reveals not only their own but perhaps the whole world’s insanity. - Stockholm Film Festival 2011