☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
The
Celebration (1998) – T. Vinterberg
Obviously,
Thomas Vinterberg’s film is intended to shock – with the key “reveal” treated
almost like a jump scare, for the audience and most of the characters in the
film. Of course, Festen is also famous as the first Dogme film, following the “rules”
set forth by Lars von Trier and his associates in 1995 (e.g., location
shooting, handheld camera, diegetic sound only, natural lighting, no action,
etc.). Despite this spartan approach,
Vinterberg has concocted a film from which it is hard to look away. A family gathers for the 60th birthday
of the patriarch. His three grown children
have very different personalities (and perhaps personality problems) and they
are mourning the recent death of the fourth sibling. The events take place in the magnificent hotel
owned by the family which has been reserved for the occasion. In turn, we learn about each sibling, but
only in dribs and drabs, until eventually the truth comes out. It’s ultimately a gut-wrenching experience,
determined to shock and wound – not unlike the confrontational moves by von
Trier in his own films. This
deliberateness might actually lessen the power of the film and mute any
discussion of its real issues. But
nevertheless it does force them out there.
I suspect trigger warnings are in order.
No comments:
Post a Comment