Part of Holiday Classics
“Manhattan. Christmas Vacation. Not so long ago.” So begins Whit Stillman’s 1990 holiday classic, an ironically comic look at Manhattan’s endangered debutante scene that chronicles the rise of a group of young Park Avenue socialites who gather nightly to discuss love, honor and their impending demise. One of the great American independent films of the 1990s, the surprise hit showcases Stillman’s deft, literate dialogue and hilariously highbrow observations and earned this first film an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay. Beneath the wit and sophistication though, lies a tender tale of adolescent anxiety.