Customer Reviews

The Celebration [VHS]

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Celebration" was made under the rules of Dogma 95, a pact about how a movie is to be made. It was signed by several Danish filmmakers including Thomas Vintenberger, the director of "Celebration". The rules include using only hand held cameras, no artificial lighting, no props except those found on location. Dogma 95 is an attempt to get away from the artificiality of Hollywood-style movie making, but, in its own way, it's artificial itself because it works only with certain kinds of movies. "The Celebration", though, happens to fit perfectly into its rules. The hand held camera work, for example, only adds to the tension of this powerful and devastating film.

A large family gathers to celebrate the 60th birthday of its patriarch. Among the celebrants are the man's grown children, a daughter and two sons. A fourth child, a twin of one son, recently killed herself in the family's country inn where the party takes place. One son, Michael [Thomas Bo Larson], is a loud and pushy guy who drinks a lot and is less than an understanding husband and father. Helene [Paprika Steen], the daughter, is an anthropologist who has traveled the world. We find out that she has good reason to distance herself from the family. Christian [Ulrich Thomson], the twin, is a man who has been in a mental institution more than once. For a time, the children try their best to put on a cheerful front. But there is a dark family secret which is about to come out. It will destroy the family.

Despairing as it may be, this is one of the most riveting films I have seen in a long time. The acting is absolutely wonderful. The script is brilliant and brutally frank. Rarely have I seen a movie with so much insightful into the enormous complexities of relationships within a family. While your family hopefully does not have secrets this shocking, you should still be able to relate to the emotions involved.

This is the kind of movie you have to pay close attention to. In particular, pay attention to a small piece of paper that keeps cropping up.

Highly recommended to people who like highly charged dramas and who like some substance to their movies.

After I saw this brilliant film, I was totally blown away by it. (I was also blown away by the fact that the obtuse Academy Awards did not nominate it for Best Foreign Language Film. The Celebration was ten times better than Life is Beautiful.) I would compare The Celebration to another brilliant film of its time: The 400 Blows by Francois Truffaut. Both films make excellent use of their cameras, and deal with the theme of child abuse by the adults. The freeze frame shot of the twin son at the end of The Celebration reminded me of Antoine at the end of The 400 Blows. THERE SHOULD BE MORE FILMS LIKE THE CELEBRATION AND THE 400 BLOWS MADE AND RELEASED IN THE U.S.

I hadn't seen any Dogme 95 films until quite recently. I did have a passing familiarity with the tenets of the group--which got a fair amount of press due to the emergence of Lars von Trier as a director of note--but hadn't actually gotten around to viewing any of the releases available in this country until just a few months ago.

A lot of what I had read was pretty negative. Many reviewers found that the strictures under which Dogme 95 filmmakers operate were more limiting than liberating--and that even when the script and the acting were good, those strictures (particularly the grainy cinematography and lack of edits) often undermined the films' effectiveness.

Since the first Dogme film I actually saw was ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS, I found myself in tentative agreement with the critics. That film, a comedy-drama, seemed to beg for better lighting, better sound and an overall more professional look. I remember thinking that the film's generally washed-out look made one actress's bright red hair look oddly artificial). It seemed oddly jarring that what was ultimately a bright, warmhearted film was presented so starkly.

But I have to admit the experience had its effect. The next few films I watched I saw through somewhat different eyes. I became increasingly aware of the kind of tricks filmmakers employ--particularly in terms of cinematography. There are certain visual conventions in films, particularly in American films, that have become cliched and deserve to be challenged.

It remained to be seen how effective the Dogme 95 approach might be in a more dramatic context. The very first entry in the series Thomas Vinterberg's CELEBRATION (am I even allowed to mention the director's name?) seemed promising on that score. The film concerns the secrets and lies of a well-to-do Danish family (which include incest, denial and suicide) set against the backdrop of the 60th birthday celebration of the family patriarch (and perpetrator).

We've seen this kind of set-up before, and it can go one of two ways. It can be as emotionally shattering as the subject matter would seem to warrant--or it can ring totally false and shift to unintentional self-parody. Thankfully, THE CELEBRATION manages to pull it off, and, yes, it's in part due to solid writing and acting, but I think the minimalist Dogme approach serves this vehicle well. The film evokes Bergman--without the cinematography of a Sven Nykvist. As it turns out, it actually works. Powerfully.

Bergman is, of course, Bergman, and he would likely never have never have submitted to Dogme 95-like tenets. On the other hand, he has approached same on occasion (SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE comes to mind), and a Dogme remake of any number of his films would be at least possible.

CELEBRATION is a difficult film to watch, and the lack of cinematic trickery adds to the discomfort in a very real way. You can't really get away from the events unfolding onscreen, even momentarily, by pulling back and saying, "Yes, it's painful, but look how beautifully it's framed."

Thomas Vinterberg's Celebration is without question one of the best of the Danish Dogme (spelled this way in Denmark, not Dogma) 95 films.

As the film opens, we see various people, in groups of two, three, and more, converge on a large house--walking, driving, and bicycling. They are gathering to celebrate the 60th birthday of the man who fathered four children--they who have now come to pay their respects with their wives, husbands, boyfriends and girlfriends. The man has made a tidy sum thanks to his unnamed business, and he and his wife live quite comfortably. Also invited are the older couple's friends, and by the time everyone has arrived, there is a full house indeed, all seated at the host's large dinner table.

Speeches are made, glasses are chinked together in toasts, food is eaten. The daughter has a black American boyfriend and it's a wicked foreshadowing that has him insulted by one of his girlfriend's brothers--an out and out racist remark.

This sets the stage for a shocking turn of events when one of the man's sons stands and proposes a toast to his father that leaves the guests completely stunned. A dark secret is revealed that is so out of place with the reason for the "celebration", nothing can ever be the same following the younger man's toast.

The drama here is powerful, intense, seething. One of the trademark strengths of Dogme 95 cinema, as many of us know by now, is its focus on story alone, without reliance on any special effects--CGI, lighting, or otherwise--and Vinterberg has here wisely chosen a story so strong that to "enhance" it with anything remotely resembling special effects would be doing it a major disservice--would be, in fact, blatantly stupid.

This is one of the best Danish films of the 20th century and should absolutely not be missed.

Very highly recommended.

Forget the Dogme rules. I'm of the view that in a few years time Dogme will have been shown to be film equivalent of Punk Rock. In the same way that Malcolm Maclaren told the whole world (after the event) that Punk was one great rip-off, I can see Von Trier and friends saying that the only people who took Dogma seriously was the movie going public - they were only having fun.

All this being said, by luck or judgement the Dogme movement have come up with a masterpiece of a film. Festen (or The Celebration) hits every taboo right on target: incest, racism, family feuds (to name a few). Dare I say it, but the considering the subject matter the most impressive facet of the film is its sense of comedy. I laughed out loud (nervously it must be said in the theatre) at the shear boldness of the film - if you've never seen a foreign language film, this one will change your life.

Celebration is dark drama set in the back drop of Helge Klingenfeldt's 60th birthday, which is the first upbeat get together since the loss of his daughter as she committed suicide. The party is a huge celebration which Helge's grown-up children are aware of as all the relatives and closest friends of the family are about to attend the festivities. During the initial part of the festivities some disturbing elements of the family history are revealed and it begins to dampen the party atmosphere. However, the party continues as if nothing ever happened, but someone is determined to spoil the party with the truth.

Celebration is a well-planned and remarkable film as it is shot after the guidelines of Dogme 95, which produces an authentic atmosphere as the camera is handheld and shot with no extra lightening. The realistic atmosphere that is set in the film enhances the disturbing elements of the story, and makes it almost comfortable to watch. The cast also does a fantastic job in creating genuine characters that the audience can relate to them as they act both respectably and appallingly according to their characters. As the party comes to an end the audience has witnessed an outmost brilliant cinematic event that will not be forgetten.

THE 10 RULES OF DOGME 95

1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).

2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot).

3. The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; shooting must take place where the film takes place).

4. The film must be in color. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).

5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.

6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)

7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)

8. Genre movies are not acceptable.

9. The film format must be Academy 35mm.

10. The director must not be credited.

forget lighting, big name actors, and all the high budget glitzand glamor. If you have a story to tell, you can make a movie with ab&w pixel-cam (a kid's camera formerly made by Fisher Price that uses high bais audio tapes to record; incidentally, a few films have been made with them...) and people will come and see it. I'm glad I saw it in the theatre, on a whim, without knowing what it was about. It is really something that delves into the uglyness and beauty of life.... There was so much of this that I saw in my own family. The difference is it's all under the table in our house! In this film, every heinous aspect of the family is flushed to the surface.....and we all must face it together. "5 stars" is no way to really convey how wonderful this experience is.

I can't say enough about this film. It is so thought provoking. Definitely a film that confronts serious and immediate issues in family relationships.....trauma, abuse, parental denial and Narcissistic needs. From a psychotherapist's point of view, this is one movie that deals with what many movies avoid.. the sad reality of how families can project their sick needs onto their children, doing considerable damage, while appearing "normal" to the outside world. To see how these grown children deal with this conflict in the movie, is immeasurably significant

FESTEN (The Celebration) as a title for this dark but brilliant film from Denmark 'assembled' by Thomas Vinterberg is more than the oxymoron that applies to the story at story's conclusion. It is a powerful, immaculately acted and performed and photographed study on the level of the great Greek dramas, but placed oh so uncomfortably in modern times.

Helge Klingenfeldt-Hansen (Henning Moritzen) is the patriarch of a large family whose 60th birthday is cause for a huge celebration, a party in the wake of the latest subterranean dark secret of this ominous group - the suicide death of the eldest sister (Lene Laub Oksen - seen only as a spirit), twin of Christian (Ulrich Thomsen). Christian returns to the party from his successful Parisian restaurant career bringing with him his history of multiple institutionalizations for 'mental illness'. He is joined by his brother Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen), a ne're do well owner of a sleazy grill in Copenhagen and married to Mette (Helle Dolleris) in a 'challenging' domestic life (!), and his lawyer sister Helene (Paprika Steen) who quite against family rules is living with a black man Gbatokai (Gbatokai Dakinah). The only calm one among this disparate group is the mother (Birthe Neumann).

Problems arise before the party begins, old sibling differences and family squabbles rising out of the cracks in the glorious old castle that houses the celebration. But the clinker comes when Helge asks Christian to offer words at the feast, a task openly welcomed as it gives Christian the opportunity to flail out the truth about the Helge that everyone seems to admire but who in fact is the nidus for the dark submerged evils that permeate the family. In the course of the celebration all of the family problems are revealed in a manner that is as stunning as the blackest of Greek tragedies.

The cast is extraordinary: every actor is gifted and performs difficult roles to perfection. Outstanding among them are Ulrich Thomsen and Paprika Steen who give notice of great acting talents. Much has been said about the manner in which the film was made according to Danish codes: suffice it to say the code's rules magnify the importance of this wholly successful film. It is a must see experience. Grady Harp, November 06

And I still think about this film regularly.

I didn't know what to expect--I'd never seen any Scandinavian films. It turned out to be one of the most satisfying movie experiences I've ever had.

I am anxiously awaiting the next Vinterberg project.