Barcelona

American independent filmmaker Whit Stillman's second film expands on the promise of his smart and witty debut, Metropolitan. Set in the early 1980s ("the last decade of the Cold War," as the prologue explains), Barcelona stars Taylor Nichols as Ted, an American salesman in the Barcelona office of a motor company, and Chris Eigeman as his cousin Fred, an abrasive naval officer sent to Spain to arrange public relations for the visiting U.S. fleet. Ted is an uptight business professional in a sexually liberated society, while Fred is self-absorbed and oblivious to the effects of his unfiltered comments in a culture that is hostile to the presence of the American military. Both are immature (yet also quite engaging) Americans abroad who begin dating local Spanish beauties (played by Tushka Bergen and Mira Sorvino). Inspired by Stillman's own experiences, this locale-driven character piece is as much indebted to literary novels and European cinema as it is to American independent film. Stillman's wry dialogue would likely seem self-conscious in other hands but is an utterly entertaining form of salon conversation here, while the laidback plot favors personal insights and minor breakthroughs over major revelations. Newly restored for both DVD and Blu-ray, extras include a 2002 audio commentary (with Whitman, Nichols, and Eigeman), a video essay on Whitman's work by film critic Farran Smith Nehme, a “making-of” featurette, archival interviews, and deleted scenes (including an alternate ending). Recommended. [Note: this is also available in a new boxed set that also features Stillman's Metropolitan and The Last Days of Disco.] (S. Axmaker)