Taglines: History is made at night.
The Last Days of Disco loosely depicts the “last days” at a disco palace, where drugs, sex and weirdness ran rampant. The story centers around a group of friends who frequent the disco and each other. All the characters are searching for something to make their lives more fulfilling. Some are searching for everlasting love and some are just wanting something different. As the disco is closed, they all wonder can disco ever really be dead?
The Last Days of Disco is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman, and loosely based on his travels and experiences in various nightclubs in Manhattan, including Studio 54. The film concerns a group of Ivy League and Hampshire College graduates falling in and out of love in the disco scene of New York City, in the “very early 1980s”. Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale have the lead roles.
The Last Days of Disco is the third film (after Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994)) in what Stillman calls his “Doomed-Bourgeois-in-Love series”. The three films are independent of each other except for the cameo appearances of some common characters. According to Stillman, the idea for Disco was originally conceived after the shooting of Barcelona’s disco scenes. In 2000, Stillman published a novelization of the film, titled The Last Days of Disco, with Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards. It won the 2014 Prix Fitzgerald Award.
Principal photography began on August 12, 1997, and ended on October 27, 1997. Filming took place in various New York City locations, and the structure used for the disco was Loews Landmark Theater Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey, that was in the process of being renovated. The filmmakers had to share the location with another film production that took place there beforehand. The other production paid for the red carpeting used in the building, and the rest of the interior was designed and paid for by Stillman’s crew.
The film’s distributor had also pushed the filmmakers to complete the film and get it released before the Columbia Pictures disco club film 54, and it was; 54 was released in US cinemas in late August 1998, just two months after the theatrical debut of The Last Days of Disco.
Like Stillman’s other films, The Last Days of Disco deals with social structure, sexual politics, and group dynamics. The relationships that bloom from the club are often expressed through long dialogue sequences, with Stillman’s trademark dry humor and “sharp lines” often blurted, especially by Charlotte and Josh.
The Last Days of Disco was theatrically released on June 12, 1998 in US theaters where it grossed $277,601 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $3 million in North America. With a production budget of $8 million, the film was considered a financial failure, although it was well received by many critics. It was received better than the critically panned release 54, which dealt with the Manhattan disco Studio 54.
Soundtrack
1. I Love the Nightlife – 3:01 (Alicia Bridges)
2. I’m Coming Out – 5:25 (Diana Ross)
3. Got to Be Real – 3:45 (Cheryl Lynn)
4. Good Times – 3:45 (Chic)
5. He’s the Greatest Dancer – 3:34 (Sister Sledge)
6. I Don’t Know If It’s Right – 3:48 (Evelyn “Champagne” King)
7. More, More, More, Pt. 1 – 3:02 (Andrea True Connection)
8. Doctor’s Orders – 3:31 (Carol Douglas)
9. Everybody Dance – 3:31 (Chic)
10. The Love I Lost – 6:25 (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes)
11. Let’s All Chant – 3:05 (Michael Zager Band)
12. Got to Have Loving – 8:18 (Don Ray)
13. Shame – 6:34 (Evelyn “Champagne” King)
14. Knock on Wood – 3:52 (Amii Stewart)
15. The Oogum Boogum Song – 2:34 (Brenton Wood)
16. Love Train – 3:00 (O’Jays)
17. I Love the Nightlife (Disco ‘Round) – 3:13 (La India & Nuyorican Soul)
The Last Days of Disco movie trailer.
The Last Days of Disco (1998)
Directed by: Whit Stillman
Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Chris Eigeman, Matt Keeslar, Mackenzie Astin, Matthew Ross, Tara Subkoff, Michael Weatherly, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Beals
Screenplay by: Whit Stillman
Production Design by: Ginger Tougas
Cinematography by: John Thomas
Film Editing by: Andrew Hafitz, Jay Pires
Costume Design by: Sarah Edwards
Set Decoration by: Lisa Nilsson
Art Direction by: Molly Mikula
Music by: Mark Suozzo
MPAA Rating: R for some elements involving sexuality and drugs.
Distributed by: Gramercy Pictures
Release Date: June 12, 1998
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