Freedom to a young rich man in the ruling class means something different than freedom to other people. Characters in Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan talk a lot about 18th century utopias, an ideal of freedom to their class forefathers, where men could practice free love and women were free to commit suicide. Alright, the plans probably looked better on paper. Stillman indues his characters with a sense of nostalgia for a loss of power, but the power being lost is power no man should have. “So many things which were better in the past have been abandoned for supposed convenience,” one character laments. Of course he’s talking about removable collars. Stillman himself, isn’t exactly nostalgic for the same things his characters are. I hope.

We talk about the not quite disappearing bourgeoisie with Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. Listen via iTunes or LostInCriterion.com, and while you're at it, like us on Facebook or support us on Patreon.