Context and Craft: Festen (A Celebration) 1998
Country: Denmark
Production Company: Nimbus Film Productions
Year of Release: 1998
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer(s): Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
Lead Performers: Thomas Bo Larsen, Trine Dyrholm, Paprika Steen, Henning Moritzen, Henning Moritzen, Ulrich Thomsen, Birthe Neumann
Production Company: Nimbus Film Productions
Year of Release: 1998
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer(s): Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
Lead Performers: Thomas Bo Larsen, Trine Dyrholm, Paprika Steen, Henning Moritzen, Henning Moritzen, Ulrich Thomsen, Birthe Neumann
Synopsis
For Helge’s 60th Birthday party, most of his extended and close family, including his three surviving children (one of them having recently having committed suicide) come to the hotel he owns to celebrate. However over the course of the night, one of his children, Christian, with the help of the hotel staff, reveal some unpleasant family secrets.
The Film
It is impossible to talk about Festen without first talking about the Dogme 95 Manifesto. In 1995, Danish Film-makers, Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg created the Dogme 95 Manifesto and the Vow of Chastity. These were a set of rules that were designed to bring exclude the ‘distractions’ of modern film-making such as elaborate special effects or technology that added artificial elements into a film in post-production, in order to bring forth what they saw as the basis of film-making; the story, acting and theme (Utterson, p.1). What is so remarkable about this movement is that it is simultaneously an homage to Italian Neo-Realism and French New Wave and a serious effort to bring new life into not only Danish Cinema but also fights against the threat of stagnation in cinema, but at the same time is also a joke (the manifesto being written half seriously by Von Trier and Vinterberg in 45 minutes) (Krause, p.1).
Festen was the first of these ‘Dogme’ films, and sticks extremely close to almost all the rules of the Manifesto (such as all camera work must be hand-held, all sound being diegetic, everything must be shot on location), for the most part. After a dogme film is completed, the Director (who is not to be credited in the film) must confess to rules he had broken (Jensen, p.1). Vinterberg confessed to several breaking of the rules, the biggest yet least noticeable breaking of these rules was the creation of a hotel reception, which, as it appears in the film, did not exist (Jensen, p.1). However for the most part Vinterberg remains true to rules. The style of this film is best summed up in the sequence of the film were all the party guests arrive at the hotel, and Ulrich Thomsen (who plays Christian) hits the camera, yet the director used this shot in the film.
Almost from the very beginning Festen has been an extremely critically acclaimed film. The film has won numerous awards at many Award ceremonies around the world, from the ‘Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics’ to the ‘Cannes Film Festival’. The film is not only acclaimed by film critics, but also by psychologists, such as Richard Gartner. Gartner, who specializes in counselling male sexual abuse victims, claims that the film is ‘a praiseworthy film that accurately depicts the consequences of sexual abuse’. (Gartner, p.253)
The story of the film was inspired by a radio confession of childhood sexual abuse that Vinterberg listened to, who then asked scriptwriter Mogens Rukov to adapt into a script. Vinterberg’s main goal with the film was to create an uneasy atmosphere in which ‘farce and tragedy’ are mixed together so that the audience is never sure about the intended tone (Christensen, p.1). Roger Ebert noticed this about the film, saying ‘Vinterberg handles his material so cannily that we are must always look for clues to the intended tone’ (Ebert, p.1). There is no one way to look at the film, it is all up to the viewer to decide how they feel about the film.
For Helge’s 60th Birthday party, most of his extended and close family, including his three surviving children (one of them having recently having committed suicide) come to the hotel he owns to celebrate. However over the course of the night, one of his children, Christian, with the help of the hotel staff, reveal some unpleasant family secrets.
The Film
It is impossible to talk about Festen without first talking about the Dogme 95 Manifesto. In 1995, Danish Film-makers, Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg created the Dogme 95 Manifesto and the Vow of Chastity. These were a set of rules that were designed to bring exclude the ‘distractions’ of modern film-making such as elaborate special effects or technology that added artificial elements into a film in post-production, in order to bring forth what they saw as the basis of film-making; the story, acting and theme (Utterson, p.1). What is so remarkable about this movement is that it is simultaneously an homage to Italian Neo-Realism and French New Wave and a serious effort to bring new life into not only Danish Cinema but also fights against the threat of stagnation in cinema, but at the same time is also a joke (the manifesto being written half seriously by Von Trier and Vinterberg in 45 minutes) (Krause, p.1).
Festen was the first of these ‘Dogme’ films, and sticks extremely close to almost all the rules of the Manifesto (such as all camera work must be hand-held, all sound being diegetic, everything must be shot on location), for the most part. After a dogme film is completed, the Director (who is not to be credited in the film) must confess to rules he had broken (Jensen, p.1). Vinterberg confessed to several breaking of the rules, the biggest yet least noticeable breaking of these rules was the creation of a hotel reception, which, as it appears in the film, did not exist (Jensen, p.1). However for the most part Vinterberg remains true to rules. The style of this film is best summed up in the sequence of the film were all the party guests arrive at the hotel, and Ulrich Thomsen (who plays Christian) hits the camera, yet the director used this shot in the film.
Almost from the very beginning Festen has been an extremely critically acclaimed film. The film has won numerous awards at many Award ceremonies around the world, from the ‘Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics’ to the ‘Cannes Film Festival’. The film is not only acclaimed by film critics, but also by psychologists, such as Richard Gartner. Gartner, who specializes in counselling male sexual abuse victims, claims that the film is ‘a praiseworthy film that accurately depicts the consequences of sexual abuse’. (Gartner, p.253)
The story of the film was inspired by a radio confession of childhood sexual abuse that Vinterberg listened to, who then asked scriptwriter Mogens Rukov to adapt into a script. Vinterberg’s main goal with the film was to create an uneasy atmosphere in which ‘farce and tragedy’ are mixed together so that the audience is never sure about the intended tone (Christensen, p.1). Roger Ebert noticed this about the film, saying ‘Vinterberg handles his material so cannily that we are must always look for clues to the intended tone’ (Ebert, p.1). There is no one way to look at the film, it is all up to the viewer to decide how they feel about the film.
By Barnaby Falck
Further Reading
Christensen, Claus. "WebCite Query Result." WebCite Query Result. Ekko, 18 May 2003. Web. 10 May 2016.
Ebert, Roger. "The Celebration Movie Review & Film Summary (1998) | Roger Ebert." All Content. N.p., 13 Nov. 1998. Web. 10 May 2016.
Gartner, Richard. Cinematic Depictions of Boyhood Sexual Victimization. Vol. 4. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Jensen, Bo Green. "Dogme95.dk – A Tribute to the Official Dogme95." Dogme95dk A Tribute to the Official Dogme95. Dogme 95, 18 Apr. 1998. Web. 10 May 2016.
Krause, Stefanie. The Implementing of the 'Vow of Chastity' in Jan Dunn's "Gypo" N.p.: Verlag, 2007. Print.
Utterson, Andrew. Technology and Culture, the Film Reader. London: Routledge, 2005. Print.
Ebert, Roger. "The Celebration Movie Review & Film Summary (1998) | Roger Ebert." All Content. N.p., 13 Nov. 1998. Web. 10 May 2016.
Gartner, Richard. Cinematic Depictions of Boyhood Sexual Victimization. Vol. 4. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Jensen, Bo Green. "Dogme95.dk – A Tribute to the Official Dogme95." Dogme95dk A Tribute to the Official Dogme95. Dogme 95, 18 Apr. 1998. Web. 10 May 2016.
Krause, Stefanie. The Implementing of the 'Vow of Chastity' in Jan Dunn's "Gypo" N.p.: Verlag, 2007. Print.
Utterson, Andrew. Technology and Culture, the Film Reader. London: Routledge, 2005. Print.