SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

GazerRise Fantastic!

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Turfseer The noted Danish director, Thomas Vinterberg, asks the question, 'is there nothing sacred?', and decidedly answers in the negative. Some may call 'The Celebration' a black comedy, which according to Wikipedia, fits the definition: "In black humor, topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo…are treated in an unusually humorous or satirical manner while retaining their seriousness." But the film also falls under the broader category of farce: "a farce is a comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, and thus improbable…Farce is also characterized by physical humor, the use of deliberate absurdity or nonsense, and broadly stylized performances…Furthermore, a farce is also often set in one particular location, where all events occur."If one accepts Eric Bentley's definition of farce where one is permitted the outrage without the consequences, then Vinterberg has broken the societal taboos of pedophilia by asking us (in effect) to consider that the consequences of such a transgression might not be as bad as one thinks. Indeed, when Christian spills the beans at his father's big birthday bash that he was molested by his father as a child, the outrage is certainly there for all to see-but the consequences are hardly what the viewer is expecting.'The Celebration' reminds me of a much darker version of 'Seinfeld'. The four 'Seinfeld' buddies are deeply flawed human beings, but once they come across a much darker force (The 'Soup Nazi' as one of countless examples), they must prepare themselves to do 'battle'. The end result is that our 'heroes' may end up a bit 'bloodied', but their far more neurotic counterpart, must inevitably receive his/her comeuppance.Hence, Helge's children, Christian, Michael and Helene, are cast as the protagonists, who inevitably must take their 'evil' father down. But along the way, they too, with their serious flaws, are exposed as pyrrhic victors. Perhaps the most flawed of the three children is Michael. Immediately we see what a hothead he is when he kicks his wife and children out of the car, to give his brother a ride, driving up to the family-run hotel where the celebration will take place. Later, he flips out completely, berating his wife for forgetting to pack his favorite shoes, that he was planning to wear at the party. If there's one wrong note in the film, it's Vinterberg's decision to cast Michael as an out and out racist, after he sings a racist song, disparaging Helene's African-American boyhood. The whole idea here is to highlight the characters' limitations, not make them unsympathetic!Vinterberg also hints that Helene has not lived up to her expectations. When she finds a suicide note belonging to Christian's twin sister, Lisa, who killed herself a couple of months before, she ineffectually hides it, afraid to reveal its contents to anyone. Helene's mother, Else, expresses her disappointment in her surviving daughter by alluding to her failed career choice as a singer and her flirtation with socialism. Else's racism is much more subtle when she claims Helene chose 'anthropology' over 'law' (a dig at Helene's black boyfriend).And finally there's Christian, who Helge reveals during one of their 'one-on-one's', has a history of psychiatric problems and failures of relationships with women. While a victim of sexual abuse as a child, Christian can only ineffectually lash out at his parents in front of friends and family members. Even after his initial claim of abuse, he comes back for 'more', castigating his father again and then his mother, claiming she was a witness to Helge's pedophilia and did and said nothing. The whining Christian ends up being tied to a tree by Michael, as the younger son believes his mother's story that Christian is a teller of 'tall tales'.Soon, however, the far more disturbed Helge gets his comeuppance. After the toastmaster reads Linda's suicide note (given to him by Helene at Christian's behest), the deceased daughter implies she was also molested by Helge (as part of a dream, she says). Helge finally owns up to his behavior, by outrageously stating that was all Christian "was good for." But instead of anyone calling the police, the consequences are minimal for the family patriarch. That evening Michael administers a non-lethal beating; in the morning he beats a hasty exit as Michael asks him to leave the breakfast area—with the further proviso that he will be not be seeing his grandchildren ever again.As for Else, she declines to join her husband 'in exile'. Some internet posters have stated that she too deserved Helge's fate. But consider this: at the time the abuse occurred, what could she really have done? If she had went to the police, would anyone have believed her? Or if she tried to leave with the kids, what kind of financial support would she have had and wouldn't have Helge done everything in his power, to prevent her from taking the kids?You may have noticed, of course, the low quality of the film's production. That's of course due to Vinterberg's allegiance to the Dogme 95 Collective school of filmmaking, which Vinterberg was one of the founding members. We all remember what this silly avant-garde movement was all about: no props, no music, a hand-held camera, filmed on location, director getting no credit, etc. In short, Dogme 95 was just another word for 'low-budget' and a well-meaning attempt by independent filmmakers to achieve parity with the big-budget studios.Vinterberg's real achievement here is extending the genre of black comedy into a new realm. Taboos are refreshingly swept aside with a 'happy ending' (the antagonist is dealt with by his family not the police; facing ostracism instead of a criminal sentence). 'The Celebration' is not much of a 'laugh-out loud' spectacle but still manages to be fairly original.

MrDude_o_o Camera work of the film gives the viewer a "part time job" to work in a birthday party as a cameraman. Vinterberg's technique is not unique of course; for example two years before Festen, Refn's Pusher has the same style. Some angles he uses also remind me of Cranes Are Flying - especially the stairs scene. However, camera work still provides various fresh executions such as there is a scene where camera changes its position quickly (pulled from its place in a harsh way so it can be put in its new position) to follow the car which enters the garden behind a wall or there is a scene where camera behaves like a fly, after a flight, resting on a bed for a short time. Dynamic editing also gives the viewer a great pleasure. Brilliant film-making.

Gaston, who's that!? In my project of watching IMDb's Top 250 list (of August 9 2013) I have come to number 248, which is "The Celebration" also known as "Festen" (one of few contributions to the list from my homeland Denmark). It's directed by Danish film director Thomas Vinterberg and is the first movie created under the Dogme95 rules. The movie depicts a 60th Birthday held by a wealthy Danish family. On the surface everything is idyll, but a lot is about the change. I do, however, don't want to spoil it. The movie is both serious and funny, but it's not meant to be funny. It's, however, some of the characters very extreme personalities, which make you laugh (briliant done).You also get a lot of good acting from the entire cast. Especially Ulrich Thomas, Paprika Steen, Thomas Bo Larsen and Henning Moritzen give fantastic performances. I had seen the movie before and loved it, but it was nice to see it again. It is really a movie that becomes better on repeating viewings. So I will give it 10 out of 10 stars. Not much to say – simply one of the best!

Sindre Kaspersen Danish screenwriter and director Thomas Vinterberg's second feature film which he co-wrote with Danish screenwriter Mogens Rukov, is based on an idea by Thomas Vinterberg. It premiered In competition at the 51th Cannes International Film Festival in 1998, was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 23rd Toronto International Film Festival in 1998, was shot on location in Denmark and is a Danish production which was produced by Danish producer Birgitte Hald and in compliance with the rules and intentions set forth in the DOGMA 95 manifesto. It tells the story about a Danish restaurant owner named Christian who lives in Paris, France and who returns to his homeland where his mother named Elsie, his sister named Helene and her friend named Gbatokai, his brother named Michael and his wife named Mette and their three children, his friend named Pia, a waitress named Michelle, a chef named Kim and many other guests are getting prepared at a grand conference hotel where they are to spend the day and night celebrating his father named Helge Klingenfeldt-Hansen's 60th anniversary.Distinctly and brilliantly directed by Nordic filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the main character's point of view, draws an uncanny and throughout engaging portrayal of a son who has kept a family secret ever since his childhood, an uninvited brother who gets into a dispute with his sister's new boyfriend and a waitress with a crush on one of the family members who notices that one of the female guests is flirting with her. While notable for it's distinct and naturalistic milieu depictions, fine cinematography by English cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, editing by Icelandic film editor Valdis Oskarsdottir and use of sound, colors and light, this dialog- driven and narrative-driven story about family relations and traditions which became Thomas Vinterberg's initiation into cinema history and where the distinctions between truths and lies becomes very evident, depicts several dense and interrelated studies of character and contains a timely song sung by the mother of the man at the center of the party with the lyrics : "There is an idyllic quiet peace…".This dramatic, situational and darkly humorous social satire from the late 1990s which is set at a hotel in Denmark during a summer in the 20th century and where a light-hearted and inspirited celebration becomes a shock after the eldest son has asked his father to choose between a green and a yellow speech and all of the guests car keys vanishes, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, efficient continuity, variegated characters, versatile perspectives, the words in a letter : "Dear whoever finds this letter…", the prominent acting performance by Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen, the hilarious, unsettling and authentic acting performance by Danish actor Thomas Bo Larsen, the charming acting performance by Danish actress Trine Dyrholm and the fine acting performances by Danish actresses Paprika Steen, Helle Dolleris, Therese Glahn, actor Gbatokai Dakinah and Danish actors Henning Moritzen and Lars Brygmann. A lingering, impressive and majestic character piece which gained, among numerous other awards, the Special Jury Prize at the 51st Cannes Film Festival in 1998.