The Celebration (1998)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A dysfunctional upper-class family gathers for the father's 60th birthday. Secrets are revealed and chaos ensues.I understand the attraction of rebelling against Hollywood style blockbusters. Filming in a Blair Witch style doesn't make it good, let alone a masterpiece. The kindest thing I can say about the look of the movie is that the filmmakers are trying to do something different. It's not particularly interesting to me and rather tiresome.The other problem is mostly my fault. I don't know any of the actors. There is character chaos. I can follow most of the leads but it's hard to get involved. It's funny that Michael throws his wife and kids to the side of the road. I lose interest in any of them fairly quickly after that. I don't care about the family or its secrets.

At Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.When you think of "Dogma 95", pretty much only one name comes to mind: Lars Von Trier. But we see from this film that he and his crew are not the only ones who can do that style of filming. Exactly what the point of it is, beyond being a challenge, I am not sure... but, yeah.And really, I think this would be a stronger film if it was not filmed in the Dogma 95 style. The interactions are really good, the characters full. They seem hampered by the camera making them look cheap and almost like fro ma home video. I also learned that racism is alive and well in Denmark, which I never would have thought.

I must admit to consuming inordinate amounts of Scotch whilst watching this. The premise of the movie is a bit far-fetched (I mean, statistically, how many father actually molest their children?), but the movie is very well done indeed.From the slightly forced family get-togethers, to the masonic overtones, to the "responsibility" of the toastmaster to see the rituals of the dinner through (how many crimes in history have been justified on the basis of the imagined "responsibility" one holds to one's station!), this movie speaks truths about family, repressed passions, and catastrophically bad decisions.I am not sure what crimes of cinema-making this Dogme 95 is meant to protect us against, but the input it had in this movie is worth all the fuss.Highly recommended.

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.