Metropolitan is the first film by director and screenwriter Whit Stillman

Whit Stillman

Whit Stillman is an American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" Whit Stillman (born John Whitney Stillman on January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" Whit Stillman (born John Whitney...

. It received an Oscar

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Shot on location in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 and Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

, the movie depicts the lives of young, upper-class New Yorkers

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 (or, as one character calls them, the "Urban Haute Bourgeoisie") during debutante ball

Cotillion

In American usage, a cotillion is a formal ball and social gathering, often the venue for presenting débutantes during the débutante season – usually May through December. Cotillions are also used as classes to teach social etiquette, respect and common morals for the younger ages with the...

 season while home for winter break in their first year of college. Middle-class Princeton

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 student Tom Townsend, an admirer of Charles Fourier

Charles Fourier

François Marie Charles Fourier was a French philosopher. An influential thinker, some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become main currents in modern society...

's socialism, observes this comedy of manners

Comedy of manners

The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...

 with an outsider's distance but eventually becomes deeply attached to the characters he meets.

• Carolyn Farina
  Carolyn Farina
  Carolyn Farina is an American actress best known for roles in the Whit Stillman films Metropolitan and The Last Days of Disco. She plays the same character in both films...
  
   as Audrey Rouget, a young debutante.
• Edward Clements as Tom Townsend, a Princeton attendee who falls into Audrey's group of friends.
• Chris Eigeman
  Chris Eigeman
  Chris Eigeman is an American actor best known for roles in the Whit Stillman films Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco....
  
   as Nick Smith, a cynical Harvard attendee who takes Tom under his wing.
• Taylor Nichols
  Taylor Nichols
  Cecil Taylor Nichols is an American actor best known for roles in the Whit Stillman films Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco. His characters in these films were insecure, stuttering sidekicks to those of the more outgoing Chris Eigeman...
  
   as Charlie Black, a Yale attendee and intellectual philosopher who is wary of Tom.
• Allison Rutledge-Parisi
  Allison Rutledge-Parisi
  Allison Rutledge-Parisi is an attorney, the chief administrative officer for Kaplan, Inc., and a former actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Jane Clark in Whit Stillman's critically acclaimed film Metropolitan ....
  
   as Jane Clark, a Vassar attendee who is Audrey's best friend.
• Dylan Hundley as Sally Fowler, a Brown University attendee who lets the group use her parents Upper East Side apartment for their nightly get-togethers.
• Isabel Gillies
  Isabel Gillies
  Isabel Gillies is an actress and author. She has played Elliot Stabler's wife, Kathy, in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999...
  
   as Cynthia McLean, Sally's best friend from Columbia University.
• Bryan Leder as Fred Neff, a college graduate, alcoholic, and mutual friend of the group.
• Will Kempe as Rick Von Sloneker, a rival of Nick and Tom.
• Ellia Thompson as Serena Slocum, Tom's ex-girlfriend who is dating Rick Von Sloneker.
• Stephen Uys as Victor Lemley

Whit Stillman wrote the screenplay for Metropolitan between 1984 and 1988 while he was running an illustration agency in New York and financed it by selling his apartment for $50,000 as well as acquiring few contributions from family members and friends.