Tonight’s the big night: the Met Gala, when everyone who’s anyone converges to mix, mingle, and show off all the opulence their hard work and perseverance has afforded them. But if your invitation was somehow misplaced this year, don’t worry: Slate has you covered. We’ve chosen five films that perfectly embody the glamorous, glitzy ethos that undergirds Manhattan’s most exclusive party. So put on something expensive, fire up the television, and make any night Gala night!
Spartacus
No one partied like the ancient Romans, but what happens when a spoilsport tries to ruin the fun? Laurence Olivier gives the performance of his lifetime as the Roman hero Crassus, who successfully defends the Roman meritocracy from the villainous Kirk Douglas and his ragged band of ungrateful 47-percenters. The filmmakers didn’t skimp on period detail: You’ll thrill to all the glitzy pageantry, the to-die-for wardrobes, and the swift justice that Rome is remembered for.
Marie Antoinette
Anna Wintour wishes she could throw a bash like “Madame Déficit,” but then, the Met Gala is supposed to raise funds. Marie Antoinette didn’t have that problem, and the results, as Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film shows, were magnificent. The parties, the meals, the hairstyles—they’re all here, in a film that serves as a timely reminder that in the 18th century or the 21st, the most punk rock thing anyone can do is indulge themselves.
The Most Dangerous Game
Even at the height of the Great Depression, 1932’s The Most Dangerous Game showed that the fashion market never crashes! This tour of Count Zaroff’s beautiful island estate has everything: elegant formalwear, top-shelf liquor, priceless artwork, and, most important of all, good sportsmanship. Its tragic ending reminds us how precious and precarious civilization can be.
American Psycho
America’s golden age is lovingly recreated in this tribute to Manhattan in the 1980s. Christian Bale’s performance embodies the eternal truth that self-confidence is the most elegant look of all—though his perfectly tailored suits certainly don’t hurt! And has there ever been a more moving statement about the importance of building a personal brand than Bale’s voiceover? “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman—some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me.” In any decade, American Psycho demonstrates, style isn’t something you buy—it’s something you create.
The Hunger Games
Imagining the fashion of the future is difficult—though the Met Gala attendees certainly try. But no one’s done it better than director Gary Ross and costume designer Judianna Makovsky, in this heartwarming story of two small-town kids finding their way in the glamorous world of the Capitol. Jennifer Lawrence’s dreamy makeover at the hands of Lenny Kravitz is aspirational filmmaking at its best, and Donald Sutherland’s star turn as her reclusive mentor gives us a Daddy Warbucks for our age—and, with any luck, our children’s!
These five films will get you through the night of the Met Gala this year, but what about next? You could try to finagle an invitation, or pony up the $30,000 ticket price ($275,000 for a table). But as these movies show, in any era, true style icons never play by the rules. So maybe the most fashionable thing to do is just show up—we hear the theme will be torches and pitchforks.
