Film Review: The Celebration

I love parties! Holiday parties, parties just for fun, and birthday parties. Imagine going to a birthday party with amazing food and happy festive guests. When it is time for the toast, the adult son (pictured above) of the birthday man stands, raises his glass, and stoically accuses his father of raping him and his sister repeatedly when they were younger. It takes awkward to a whole other level!  

The Celebration is a Danish film which was released in 1998 and directed by the Danish film director, Thomas Vinterberg. After the recent suicide of Christian's (Ulrich Thomsen) sister, the rest of his siblings, extended family, and friends gather together to celebrate the 60th birthday of his father, Helge (Henning Moritzen). When Christian presents a toast to his father he accuses him of abusing him and his recently deceased sister while the room is stricken with shock and silence. What's more shocking is the progression of reactions as more and more secrets are revealed. Throughout the evening Christian is accused of having a creative imagination, is beaten by his own brothers, and is treated like an outcast until the plot thickens and even more secrets are revealed. This film doesn't have a film score and was shot simplistically by a hand held camera. I normally don't like films that are shot with handheld cameras because they make me dizzy but The Celebration was pretty steady. The manner in which it was filmed makes you feel as if you are a guest sometimes and a voyeur other times. The audience will be filled with shock by what unfolds and left with a slight inability to respond; similar to the attendees.

The story is based on a true story which aired on the radio hosted by Keld Koplev. Apparently, a friend of the psychiatric nurse who treated the abused man told the director, Thomas Vinterberg, and he then asked Mogens Rukov to write a screenplay based on this story. The Celebration has won many awards, rightly so, including Best Foreign Film in 1998 for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and Best Foreign Language Film in 1998 for the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. The Celebration is not for children as it deals with graphic topics, slight nudity, sex, and violence but it is definitely worth watching. It provides an accurate depiction of the family dynamic when abuse like this is disclosed. Thought provoking and heartbreaking, this film has become one of my favorites. Definitely check this one out!