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''Metropolitan'' is the debut film by director and screenwriter Whit Stillman. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.〔Stillman, Whit. ''Barcelona & Metropolitan; A Tale of Two Cities''. Faber and Faber Ltd. 1994. ISBN 0-571-17365-9〕 The film is often considered the first of a trilogy of Stillman films, followed by ''Barcelona'' (1994, but written before ''Metropolitan'') and ''The Last Days of Disco'' (1998). ==Plot== Shot on location in Manhattan and Long Island, the film depicts the lives of young, well-educated upper-class New Yorkers (or, as one character calls them, the "urban ''haute bourgeoisie''") home on winter break from their first year of college during debutante ball season. Middle-class Princeton student Tom Townsend, an admirer of Charles Fourier's socialism, attends a dress ball one evening on a whim. After the ball, a mix-up leads to his meeting a small group of young Upper East Side socialites known as the Sally Fowler Rat Pack, after the girl whose apartment they use for after-hours parties. Believing that they accidentally stole a taxi from Tom, they decide to invite him to their after-hours party, to prevent ill feelings. Tom decides to attend the party, and befriends several other attendees, including Nick Smith, a cynical dandy〔Emanuel Levy, Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film, p 199)〕 who takes Tom under his wing; Audrey, a shy〔Suzanne R. Pucci, James Thompson, Jane Austen and Co.: Remaking the Past in Contemporary Culture, p. 254〕 girl who enjoys Regency era literature and has a crush on Tom; and Charlie, an overly philosophical nerd〔 with an unrequited love for Audrey. Tom learns that he and the Rat Pack have some common friends, including his ex-girlfriend Serena Slocumb, with whom he remains infatuated. Under Nick's tutelage, Tom ingratiates himself to the Rat Pack and soon becomes a full-fledged member. Much of the film is composed of dialogues in which Tom and the Rat Pack discuss the nebulous social scene they occupy, including how they are coming of age just as the yuppie culture in which they were raised is ending, leaving them with uncertain social futures. During these discussions, Tom reveals that he, too, was raised wealthy, but that his father abandoned the family to marry another woman, leaving Tom and his mother with limited financial resources. As a result, Tom harbors a love-hate relationship with wealth and the upper class. Serena has been dating Rick Von Sloneker, a young, titled aristocrat notorious for his womanizing. Nick alienates himself from the group after accusing Rick of getting a girl drunk and convincing her to "pull a train" several years before, after which she committed suicide. Other members of the Rat Pack point out holes in Nick's story. Nick later admits that the story was not literally true but a "composite" of incidents from Rick's life. Shortly thereafter, Nick leaves Manhattan, giving his top hat to Tom as a token of friendship and a symbol of the upper class's acceptance of him. Believing that Tom is not interested in her romantically, Audrey decides to leave Manhattan to spend the rest of vacation in the Hamptons with Rick and another girl from the Rat Pack. Realizing that he's developed feelings for Audrey, Tom recruits Charlie to help him rescue her from Rick. The two travel to the Hamptons together, bonding en route. Against their expectations, they arrive to find Audrey in no peril. Tom and Charlie nonetheless instigate a fight with Rick, which ends with them being kicked out of his beach house. Afterward, Tom and Audrey talk on the beach, with Audrey saying that she is planning to attend college in France, and Tom contemplating going to visit her there. The film ends with Tom, Audrey, and Charlie hitchhiking together towards Manhattan. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Metropolitan (1990 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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