The Celebration (1998)
"Festen" (original title)

At Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.

Writers:

Thomas Vinterberg (screenplay), Mogens Rukov (screenplay),

Stars:

Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen

Top 250 #245 | Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 27 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Christian
Henning Moritzen	...	Faderen - Helge
Thomas Bo Larsen	...	Michael
Paprika Steen	...	Helene
Birthe Neumann	...	Moderen - Else
Trine Dyrholm	...	Pia
Helle Dolleris	...	Mette
Therese Glahn	...	Michelle
Klaus Bondam	...	Toastmasteren - Master of Ceremonies
Bjarne Henriksen	...	Kokken - Kim
Gbatokai Dakinah	...	Gbatokai
Lasse Lunderskov	...	Onklen - Uncle
Lars Brygmann	...	Receptionisten - Receptionist
Lene Laub Oksen	...	Søsteren - Sister
Linda Laursen	...	Birthe

Storyline

The Father turns 60. His family, which is a big one of the kind, gathers to celebrate him on a castle. Everybody likes and respects the father deeply...or do they? The Youngest Son is trying to live up to The Father's expectations. He is running a grill-bar in a dirty part of Copenhagen. The oldest son runs a restaurant in France, while the sister is a anthropologist. The older sister has recently committed suicide and the father asks the oldest son to say a few words about her, because he is afraid he will break into tears if he does it himself. The oldest son agrees without arguments. Actually he has already written two speeches. A yellow and a green one. By the table, he asks the father to pick a speech. The father chooses green. The oldest son announces that this is the Speech of Truth. Everybody laughs, except for the father who gets a nervous look on his face. For he knows that the oldest son is about to reveal the secret of why the oldest sister killed herself.

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Plot Keywords:

birthday | speech | 60th birthday | celebration | patriarch | 

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Taglines:

Alle familier har en hemmelighed

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content and language, including references to sexual abuse

Details

Country:

Denmark Sweden

Language:

Danish German English

Release Date:

19 June 1998 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Celebration

Filming Locations:

Sjælland, Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

$1,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$27,621 (USA) (9 October 1998)

Gross:

$647,523 (Norway) (26 March 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nimbus Film Productions, Danmarks Radio (DR), Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On 23 November 2002 Danish Radio found 'Allan' again. Allan met with director Thomas Vinterberg. During the interview it was revealed that Allan's entire story was pure fantasy. However, Allan had adopted the story from a true life experience of a Danish nurse. She held her speech on Christmas eve.

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Goofs

The sister takes the sheet from one of the chairs twice as she uncovers the furniture.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[subtitled version]
Christian Klingenfeldt: [on his cellphone] Christian speaking... Hi, I'm here now. I landed this morning. What? Er... Washed? I shaved at the airport if you must know. I shaved at the airport if you must know! I'm fine... right now I'm looking across the fields. At the land of my father. It's beautiful. It makes me want to move back for good, but that'd be problematical. I'll make it. Yes, I suppose it will be... shocking. What?... You're dropping out. O.K. Bye.

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Connections

Referenced in From Dogma to Dogville: Don't Try This at Home (2006)

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Soundtracks

"I Skovens dybe stille ro"
By Fritz Andersen

User Reviews

God bless the Dogme 95!

I always wanted to watch "Festen" since I knew about the Dogme 95. As any Danish movie, it was released in a unique cultural theater. And, as most of the European movies, in less than 3 weeks, it wasn't...

OK, you'll tell the truth: I don't know why but I didn't watch it on a theater, and I could have done it. I waited for its release in video but all the times I went to the videostore I forgot to rent it. But one year after the release on theaters, it was rolling in Eurochannel (a cable-TV channel. It's all about Europe). I couldn't miss that chance so, on a Friday night, at 22:00, I finally watched it. And what an AMAZING film!!!

At first, the plot seems interesting and simple but after 20 minutes you finally realize how strong and provocative Festen really is. It's about one celebration made by the patriarch of the family Kingenfelt in the hotel where he lives. He's commemorating his 60 years. Christian, the older son, makes a speech where secrets are revealed.

The rules of the Dogme 95 as the use of natural light, camera in the hands, etc, help to create a claustrophobic and confidential clime, like nobody knows that someone is filming them. The scenes look incredibly real. Paprika Steen (Helene) and Ulrich Thomsen (Christian) were more than extraordinary. Paprika is a great actress and I can't stand waiting to watch "Idiotern", the second Dogme, in which she's acting again.

"Festen" is not just a worth watching film. It's a worth watching, re-watching, watching again, renting many times and recording to watch it a hundred times. Being the first Dogme, it's a mark in the cinema's history.

Grade - A+