If you tell someone the Celebration is your favorite movie and they have even an inkling of what the movie is about, they will think you are a disgusting human being. This happened to me about a month ago when I was rattling off my top movies: Mallrats, Terminator 2, lots of foreign films, the Celebration. The guy I was talking to nearly choked on his pad thai. But hey, at least its not Gummo.
The Celebration is about a patriarch's huge 60th birthday blowout. Set in Denmark's countryside (that's about as far as my geography knowledge will take me) the Celebration is a Dogme 95 film. You know Dogme 95. Dogme was an attempt by Danish filmmakers Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg et al. to create a new way of making films, stripped of artifice and the bloated Hollywood post-production process. Some of the goals were: no special lighting, genre films, superficial action...the director must not be credited. The idea, which I have taken from an interview of Mr. von Trier himself, was to limit yourself so severely (like the Sweats challenge!) that you grasped onto something brilliant as you were falling. Mr. von Trier is known as being a great filmmaker and a huge asshole. Dancer in the Dark and Breaking the Waves were good, so heartbreakingly brilliant, don't get me wrong. But Mr. von Trier runs his mouth criticizing the United States when he hasn't even been here! Like any good liberal, I can criticize the U.S. all I want but once a European follows suit, I become a Palin "real American." With us or against Mr. von Trier, with us or against us.
Alright, for awhile it seemed like Dogme was a success, as Dogme film #1, The Celebration, was the Grand Jury Prize winner at the Cannes film festival. Dogme has lost a lot of its credence because its attempt to forego gimmicks was a gimmick in itself. A collective of avant garde filmmakers! 10 goals like the 10 commandments! Content and form horribly misaligned. Nontheless, the Celebration is a Dogme film and it will forever be pegged as Dogme #1.
The movie is really good. Not because of its Dogma-ness (well, maybe in part) but because the story is so tight and it unravels both quickly and with supreme patience. Helge, the patriarch, is celebrating his 60th birthday at the family run hotel.
Christian (Ulrich Thomsen) makes an opening speech, saying that Helge used to rape him and his twin sister as children. The upper crust guests are appalled but laugh it off in a masterful move of collective deception. Christian is thrown out and the door is slammed. The guests go back to eating and Christian walks right back in. Because they didn't lock the door. It's just such a good moment, comedic in the face of tragedy. Christian makes another speech, in this one he accuses his mother of walking in when his father was raping him.
Amidst the accusations the waiters bring out another course. It's kinda like the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie; there is death and absurdity amidst the fine china and silverware. Vinterberg mixes the weighty accusation of incest with scenes of drunken laughter and dancing. Up until 3/4 of the movie the viewer thinks that maybe it is all Christian's imagination. Maybe Helge can still be the upstanding family man that the party wants him to be. And the audience maybe wants it, too. He's built this hotel empire; everyone has really kind words to say about him. His wife is unimpeachably elegant and gorgeous. But everyone knows that is not true. Towards the end of the movie, Helene, Christian's sister reads a note left by Linda, Christian's twin who recently committed suicide. She writes that she had dreams Dad was molesting her again and that was why she was taking her life. It is here that the party's goodwill ends. Helge has scarred his children and killed his daughter.
The next day at breakfast (yes, this was a destination party and everyone is present at BREAKFAST THE NEXT DAY AFTER THAT DEBACLE). Helge has fallen. His son, the bumbling baby of the family, Michael, refuses to allow his children to eat near their grandfather. No longer in his tux, Helge looks like a shrunken man. His life is over.
It takes two hours but Helge finally gets what he deserves. The disdain and disgust of his family and friends. No gimmicks. Just justice.
when he starts talking at that dinner table...oh, hell no! it was goooooood.
ReplyDeletethanks for the review.... I've seen it at the library and, possibly, rented it but don't think I ever watched it. Will put it on my list now.
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