The Celebration

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The Celebration (Festen)
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Produced by Birgitte Hald,
Morten Kaufmann
Written by Thomas Vinterberg,
Mogens Rukov
Starring Ulrich Thomsen,
Henning Moritzen,
Thomas Bo Larsen,
Paprika Steen,
Birthe Neumann,
Trine Dyrholm
Music by Lars Bo Jensen
Distributed by Alfa Films (Argentina),
Arthaus Filmverleih (Germany),
Atalanta Filmes (Portugal),
Budapest Film (Hungary),
Cinemien (The Netherlands),
Cult Filmes (Brazil, VHS),
Europafilm AS (Norway),
Gativideo (Argentina),
Golem Distribución S.L. (Spain),
Les Films du Losange (France),
Maywin Media (Russia),
October Films (USA),
Prem'er Video Fil'm (Russia),
Scanbox Danmark (Denmark),
Triangelfilm (Sweden),
Versátil (Brazil, DVD)
Release date(s) May 1998
Running time 105 min.
Language Danish
Budget $1,300,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

The Celebration (original Danish title: Festen) (1998) is an acclaimed Danish film, written and directed by Thomas Vinterberg, about the resolving of deep family issues.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Respected family patriarch and businessman Helge (Henning Moritzen) is celebrating his 60th birthday at a magnificent old hotel. Gathered together are his loyal wife Elsa, his daughter Helene, his sons Michael and Christian (Ulrich Thomsen), and other guests.

Without any warning, Christian makes a speech to the family in which he accuses Helge of sexually abusing him and his sister, Linda. His family and friends initially reject the accusations and try to avoid or ignore the issue. Christian battles with their responses in a way that echoes his own battle to accept the truth that he has smothered for so long. The film depicts the long-lasting consequences of childhood sexual abuse by parental figures, and also domestic Stockholm syndrome.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Style

The Celebration is best known for being the first Dogme 95 film (its full title in Denmark is Dogme #1 - Festen). Dogme films are expected to follow a strict set of rules to ensure minimalism and authenticity, such as the use of unaltered real locations, natural lighting, live music and handheld camerawork.

The Celebration follows the rules carefully. The overall effect is to make the film look like a home video, which is intended to suit the subject matter of a family gathering and add to the film's a realistic feel.

[edit] Stage adaptations

The Celebration has frequently been adapted for the stage; as of 2006 there have been English, Danish, German, Greek, French, Italian, Swedish, Polish, Czech and Slovenian adaptations. The English language adaptation was written by David Eldridge, and premiered at the Almeida Theatre in 2004 in a production directed by Rufus Norris, before transferring to a successful West End run at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue until April 2005. It commenced a UK tour in February 2006, before transferring to Broadway. However, despite its great success in London, it had to close after only 49 performances on Broadway, where the final performance took place on May 20, 2006. It opened in Melbourne, Australia in July 2006 starring Jason Donovan. An Irish production (under the title of 'Festen') ran in the Gate Theatre, Dublin, from September 2006 to November 2006.

[edit] Awards

The Celebration won the following awards:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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