# Dogme 1 - Festen (1998)

### reviewed by
Michael Dequina

_The_Celebration_(Festen)_ (R) **** (out of ****)

The title of this Danish import couldn't be more ironic. First, there's the literal level, in the plot: the sixtieth birthday bash of a wealthy patriarch Helge (Hennig Moritzen) becomes something decidedly less festive when his successful eldest son Christian (Ulrich Thomsen) disrupts the event with some shocking allegations about him and Christian's dead twin sister. On a deeper level, there's the irony of tone: while the charges being made by Christian are as serious as they can get, the situation is played for some gleefully venomous laughs--making the overall mood sort of a "celebration" of everyone's misery.

It's a fine line to walk, that between comedy and misery, but director/co-writer (with Mogens Rukov) Thomas Vinterberg handle the balancing act magnificently. While one is often laughing at and with Christian's shamelessly disruptive antics, one can feel the pain that compels him to do so. The real balancing act, though, is how Vinterberg keeps the truth largely ambiguous through his characters; they are portrayed equal parts bad and good, so it's often up to question whether or not Christian is telling the truth or merely spiting his father. It's that heightened sense of reality--in accordance with the Danish film movement called "Dogme 95," which sets standards for realism and "purity"--that lends _Festen_ an uncommon power, even if some "realist" techniques become somewhat irksome (i.e. shaky, cinema-verite hand-held camera work).

Michael Dequina mrbrown@iname.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com

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