Festen (The Celebration)
February 4th 2009 01:21
The Dogme95 "Vow of Chastity" states that shooting must be done on location, no props can be brought to location, the only sound used must be heard on location (music can only be used if it occurs naturally within a scene), only available light can be used, the camera must be handheld at all times, the film must be in colour, the story must take place in the here and now, no superficial action is allowed (ie murder), genre movies are not accepted, the final format must be Academy ratio 35mm, and the director can not be credited. And finally the director must agree to the following statement: “Furthermore I swear as a director to refrain from personal taste! I am no longer an artist. I swear to refrain from creating a "work", as I regard the instant as more important than the whole. My supreme goal is to force the truth out of my characters and settings. I swear to do so by all the means available and at the cost of any good taste and any aesthetic considerations.”
Henning Mortizen as Helge and Birthe Neumann as Else
Ulrich Thomsen as Christian
Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen) watches in disgust as Helene (Paprika Steen) kisses Gbatokai (Gbatokai Dakinah)
It is during dinner that Christian decides it is time to deliver his speech. He offers Helge a choice between his yellow speech and green speech. Green it is. And it’s a doozy: he accuses his father of sexually abusing Linda and himself as children, and that Linda’s suicide is essentially a murder. Christian is reprimanded by Michael and Helge, but he returns to the disturbing subject matter again. The situation gets out of hand, and the false sense of aristocratic security is irreparably damaged.
Pia (Trine Dyrholm) pays a sneaky visit to Christian
Michael and Mette (Helle Dolleris) have a domestic
There’ll be tears before bedtime as the party’s rigid infrastructure begins to collapse. This is one celebration where the real revelations are by no means the birthday gifts. Helge needs to be made accountable, but it won’t be in any conventional way. The festivities must go on!!
Helge escapes for a moment after Christian continues to disrupt his party
Shooting with only available light means as the daylight disintegrates and practical lights within the household take over the quality of the picture deteriorates as well. Of course, this only serves as a beautiful visual metaphor for the trajectory of the movie’s narrative.
Michael and the MC (Klaus Bondam, right), remove Christian from the party
Forget Hollywood’s whining, contrived domestic dramas, Festen is the tainted celebration you should be toasting, it’s essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in unforced dramatics and the “art” of filmmaking.
Ironically the only subbed trailer I could find is the American "Hollywood" trailer:
Here's the Danish trailer (sorry, no subs, but the vibe is clear):
Festen DVD is courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment, many thanks!
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Comment by Damo
Probably not my style but I may end up seeing it by mistake on SBS one day.
The concept is good but I do wonder how long such concept will remain fresh before it begins to look like reality TV.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Festen never feels like realityTV, despite the realism, but who knows what the more recent Dogme entries look like. I'd have thought this would appeal to your sense of socio-political dysfunction.
Comment by Cibbuano
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I like the idea of directors signing that statement... too often, movies seem like the proud peacock of the director, who makes sure his name goes up in huge letters..
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile