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The Celebration

The Celebration

1998
Drama
1h 45m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 75.05% from 2069 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(2069)
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Rated 02 May 2009
85
80th
Definitely succeeds at what Dogme 95 sets out to do: Return movies back to realism and narrative. It offers a simplistic plot but the characters are alive, the acting is superb and when everything eventually comes apart it is both beautiful and ugly. Excellent choice of credit music as well. Great film.
Rated 15 Oct 2007
100
96th
Amazing film. Everyone should see this film. Agonizing and eye opening dysfunctional family dynamics. Subtitled.
Rated 12 Feb 2013
65
61st
Vinterberg's kind-of amateur approach provides an amazingly intimate sense of homevideo footage to a story that demands nothing more than urgency, proximity and confidence. Like any family meeting, this seems funny, angry and often shocking, depicting both father-and-son situations -- a child abuse is revealed -- and a rewarding (and also rare) brother-and-sister (she's dead, he's in pain) relationship.
Rated 21 Mar 2014
85
87th
If you let an intoxicated Bergman write a script and let Bunuel direct it, the result will be very similar to Festen. Featuring the weirdest family ever put on screen. While Jagten is more polished, Festen is still the superior film. Idiocy makes place for idiosyncracy, which is probably the reason these characters are so damn perfect.
Rated 03 Dec 2014
100
99th
superb acting, first-rate writing, outstanding directing. One could complain about the fact that it's not the most beautiful movie to look at and the handheld camera is irritating, which is of course due to its self-imposed restrictions. But the style fits perfectly with the content to me. It's an ugly movie about an ugly subject. The handheld camera gives the movie an extra layer of realism because of the intimacy and chaos this invokes.
Rated 30 Jun 2015
100
85th
an amazing cinematography with a strong story.
Rated 06 Sep 2020
95
97th
The rough Dogme style is a brilliant framework for such challenging, uncomfortable drama, bringing to the screen an uncommon immediacy and realness. Vinterberg brings matters to the boil with the careful patience of a master craftsman, and his film becomes heart-poundingly tense once it gets going, while still finding the time for the odd blackly comic aside to test its squirming audience even further. Every reaction is completely genuine to its character, and each actor perfectly cast.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
88
91st
Terrifying (and auspicious) Dogmafilm.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
54th
Compelling family drama in the Dogme 95 style. This is the first Dogme film apparently, and the style does suit the material well. The handheld documentary feel plops you in the middle of the awkward and uncomfortable situation. Some bits are a little overdone (the "Sambo" song, for instance, was unnecessary and less than genuine) but overall I thought it was pretty good. These Danes seem to have a strong sense of justice that I find appealing.
Rated 20 Oct 2007
84
75th
Stunning on a first viewing, its flaws stand out more on repeat viewings. In particular, the very traditional narrative structure, complete with guy gets girl in the end, leaves what is a genuinely messy situation feeling like it's been portrayed too neatly. That said, there is some real power in those party scenes--not because of the startling revelations, but because of the understated way in which Vinterberg lets them just lie there. That's evidence of mature filmmaking.
Rated 24 Feb 2009
80
86th
A riveting story for which the "realistic" Dogme style was perfect.
Rated 08 Aug 2009
83
67th
Set a standard with its camerawork, cinematography, and implementation of the rules that no other Dogme film ever matched.
Rated 03 May 2010
72
81st
Possesses a driving energy from the opening bell, with strong performances all round. Still, whereas von Trier's films tend to receive very mixed reviews, this movie is much more uniformly liked. Perhaps there is something easier to digest here: a single, universally agreed, bad guy, representing a dark centre of gravity; the audience can thus understandingly accept the "humanity" of the rest of the ensemble; an infliction of justice to warm the vengeful heart; and the guy even gets the girl.
Rated 25 Jul 2010
10
99th
Holy shit, this film is ridiculously intense. I loved every minute of it but there were moments where I felt that Michael's character was a bit too over-the-top (surprisingly, the end of the film wasn't one of them)
Rated 21 Jul 2011
100
99th
gonul rahatligiynan soyleyebilirim ki son zamanlarda izledigim en iyi film. dogma akimiyla yildizi barisik olanlara esasli bir deneyim vadediyor. sikintidan terler dokerek izledim. o nahos ve marazli oykude bir ozneydim sanki, film o denli icine aldi beni. o derece gercek, o derece etkileyici, o derece rahatsiz edici. muthis muthis.
Rated 26 Jan 2012
85
94th
However i'm not quite fond of dogma 95, i really enjoyed watching this movie. The first half hour is a hard nut to crack but when the pieces start to fit together the movie shows its true value. Humor and drama find a stable balance during the story and the acting is even a bit surrealistic. Even though the principles of the dogma threatens to devaluate the picture, the genius editing ensures "Festen" of its importance in movie-history.
Rated 04 Apr 2012
61
33rd
The summary of the movie tells you pretty much the entire extent of the plot.
Rated 08 Jul 2012
85
96th
intense and horrific movie about incest denial in a dysfunctional family. style works great and enhances the story and the acting is superb. the last third of the movie was slightly weaker than the two first, but I was still left intensely pleased by the experience.
Rated 17 Oct 2012
84
93rd
A good candidate for the most ironic title ever. Although the Dogme camerawork is initially distracting, in the end it has a beauty of its own, helped by the superb editing. Vinterberg's real achievement was to keep the cynicism in check (although there is plenty of pitch black humour): at its core, this is a deeply satisfying drama where the good guy wins.
Rated 28 Apr 2013
90
89th
Vinterberg is one of the best filmmakers that have ever come out of Denmark and The Celebration is his crowning achievement. All the different characters are so well crafted and function perfectly within the setting, each moving the plot forward in their own style. The shear intensity Vinterberg creates, pretty much through dialouge alone, is amazing and it just builds until the ineviatable climax. Absolutely fantastic.
Rated 29 May 2013
8
92nd
Despite or because of? the distinctive Dogme style of film making this was a powerful and absorbing human drama.
Rated 01 Feb 2014
93
95th
A fantastic story encapsulated in a perfect medium; The Celebration would not be what it is without Dogme95. The story is brutal and terrifying while the film itself is intense, frightening, heartbreaking and feels so real, especially on repeat watchings. It takes you through the entire emotional spectrum throughout; you laugh, you cringe, you cry. Such a well-written and well-acted character piece, Vinterberg and Rukov really have a knack for writing realism and honesty. Absolutely brilliant.
Rated 07 Mar 2014
85
85th
Would've probably been better without the Dogme - rules, but the script and acting are pure gold.
Rated 06 Oct 2014
90
93rd
A truth seeking account of probably the absolute worst news that could possibly come to light during a family reunion. The fly on the wall perspective allows you to feel all the tension and awkwardness as it unfurls. For the synopsis not being very intricate the story is told in such a way that leaves you entirely captivated once that enormous bomb is dropped. Great filmmaking.
Rated 14 Jul 2015
95
97th
Such a delightfully devilish and bloodthirsty film.
Rated 24 Sep 2015
91
98th
The best movie ever made about racism.
Rated 10 Apr 2016
99
95th
One of the most intense films ever.
Rated 04 May 2018
9
90th
And you thought your family gatherings were awkward, ooh boy, have I got a movie for you.
Rated 25 Mar 2007
60
47th
An interesting attempt, but, y'know, most shot-on-video movies look like crap. Thank heaven that whole "Dogma" thing is already dead
Rated 03 May 2007
68
28th
Incredibly, terribly painful and awkward to watch. Also: sometimes funny. Mostly the other stuff though.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
61st
The Celebration has a good premise, but I think its strongest quality is the fact that it's often absolutely hilarious. For every scene that's unsettling and sometimes almost nauseating to watch, there's another scene that's too surreal to be anything but funny. I'm not saying that the dark family secrets at the heart of the film are the least bit funny, but the party itself sure is. And it's a pretty good story of denial and repression too.
Rated 18 Aug 2007
80
51st
Tough subject matter, but very well done.
Rated 13 Sep 2007
58
48th
Definitely worth seeing, a decent and interesting film albeit deserving of criticism. I was wondering what Dogme #1 would translate to, what the fancy manifesto would boil down to. For better or worse, the result looks like the first ever art-film inspired not even by cinema verite but by reality TV, right down to the annoying editing. The problem is much of the proceedings are of questionable believability, particularly the racism angle. I also didn't care for moments when it tried to be funny.
Rated 02 Mar 2008
53
24th
# 946
Rated 15 Oct 2008
60
89th
De mest vellykkede dogme-film
Rated 19 Dec 2008
56
12th
871
Rated 26 Jan 2009
85
94th
Great twist. Festen is a nicer title though. Great "foreign" movie!
Rated 29 May 2009
75
86th
Very good movie
Rated 17 Jun 2009
98
98th
Astoundingly raw, with excellent performances all around.
Rated 09 Aug 2009
100
99th
Easily the best Dogme 95 film. At times jarring, mysterious, or beautiful, it still manages to be completely realistic and believable throughout. The dream sequence near the end is one of my favorite scenes ever.
Rated 10 Sep 2009
98
92nd
I loved it.
Rated 15 Jan 2010
56
12th
878
Rated 09 Aug 2010
90
98th
To tell the truth, I was not expecting a "deep" film like that. Thank you Mr.Vinterberg.
Rated 11 Dec 2010
70
69th
Had I wathced this when it first came out, the disturbing impact would have been much more significant. Alas, even the news in the past couple of years has managed to surprass the desired effect this film intends to deliver. Still, worth a watch...
Rated 16 Dec 2010
75
60th
Tense unsettling, and totally believable. Well-acted and a pretty solid film.
Rated 26 Dec 2010
92
96th
92.000
Rated 05 Mar 2011
78
51st
Brutally disfunctional family
Rated 30 Apr 2011
50
12th
parti, yas günü kutlamasi, aile bulusmasi, saklanan gercek, ensest, tecavüz, intihar, (el kamerasiyla cekilmis gibi. Oglu babasinin kendisine ve akrdesine tecavüz ettigini aciklar. konuklar son derece kayitsizdir. Türkiyede olsa en azindan masayi terk ederlerdi. İgrenc bir yasam tarzini anlatiyor. Pek begenmedim)
Rated 02 Dec 2011
59
18th
#811
Rated 17 Jan 2012
67
21st
Compelling character piece and family drama. It doesn't ever really feel artificial or unnecessary, but it never really succeeds at being anything than just an insider's look at a very ugly group of people. The minimalist "Dogme" style fits the film, even if it's not the prettiest or even the best way to present the material.
Rated 20 Jun 2012
9
94th
seriously, what do they do to you in denmark?!
Rated 12 Aug 2012
52
12th
Uncomfortable to watch.
Rated 23 Feb 2013
90
80th
Absolutely thrilling filmmaking. I love the Dogme style as used in this film, I hope the others are as effective with it. What's interesting about the style is that what I love about it could very well make someone else think it looks like a piece of shit, so your milage may vary, I guess. Definitely worth seeing, though.
Rated 18 Apr 2013
85
93rd
I think the greatest thing that can be said in this movies favor is that it completely manages to overcome a 5 minute cringeworthy treasure-hunting scene where Paprika Steen seems to forget what acting is and the script forgetting what "realism".
Rated 23 Apr 2013
88
62nd
A great movie about Christian, who takes the occasion of his father's 60th birthday to tell the hole family what he did to them when they were children.
Rated 06 Aug 2013
75
89th
Excellent.
Rated 17 Dec 2013
80
85th
Taut and twisted, "Festen" is a relentlessly vitriolic and thoroughly engrossing family drama (often bordering on black comedy). Vinterberg's camerawork here probably represents the most imaginative use of the Dogme-95 naturalistic style that I have seen, while the cast is very strong across the board.
Rated 24 Dec 2013
77
39th
i think the film was trying to go for realism. but at the same time, i found the characters, their relationships, their reactions and their behaviours completely unrealistic. the film did have some redeeming moments where universal humanity seeped through, and i think the scattered nature of it was a stylistic choice, but i think it needed stronger, more coherent characters and a stronger thematic core that would make this danish story relatable on a global scale.
Rated 20 Feb 2014
85
91st
Disappointed with the anticlimactic ending. Perhaps that is the effect Vinterberg was going for, depicting this neat and tidy event as a meaningless gesture to the horrific things that came to light. But everything up until was pretty phenomenal, especially the editing combination of the shower/hide-and-seek message/Christian falling asleep sequence
Rated 16 May 2014
85
74th
Dogma 95
Rated 05 Aug 2014
65
32nd
Had interesting moments but overall I found there to be too many loose ends and inconsistencies. Several awful, unlikable people. There were a few ominous parts where I thought things would get more violent and scary, but everything kind of diffused and not a lot happened.
Rated 03 Dec 2014
85
88th
looks like a mixture of "Exterminating Angel",(they don't quit the house no matter what), "Monsoon Wedding" and even "Salo or 120 Days of Sodom", when it becomes an allegory of fascist orders where the unity of the group must be kept at any cost (it's not a coincidence that "lower class" servants help Christian to "overthrow" his father). Aestethically very successful because the dogma style looks like video recrods for family memoirs. Strong movie.
Rated 07 Aug 2015
70
64th
Good movie, but could do with some Poul!
Rated 30 Aug 2015
92
94th
A delicious human farce. A lot of wild handheld or loose, experimental camerawork (echoes of when the French New Wave directors released themselves from the tripod), captures the obscene collection of inter-family outrage splattered on screen, with capable editing that manages to shepherd the footage into plausible order. The dialogue & acting perfectly suits this natural movement Vinterberg got himself involved in.
Rated 13 Dec 2015
81
90th
song was awesome
Rated 15 Aug 2017
10
96th
this is a real mf'er
Rated 22 Mar 2020
93
86th
To slightly paraphrase the Godfather of Soul, "Papa didn't cuss, Papa didn't raise no fuss, but when we did nothing wrong, Papa fucked the hell out of us."
Rated 22 Nov 2020
70
92nd
Like a home video gone horribly wrong. The Dogme 95 style gives this film a realism and presence unmatched.
Rated 15 Jan 2021
81
68th
I already suffer from depression.
Rated 19 Jan 2021
93
78th
A-
Rated 26 Jan 2021
94
96th
I need to see it again to rate it more ;)
Rated 08 Feb 2021
4
93rd
Vinterberg chooses the easy way by picking the most sensitive issue and playing on it. But he delivers, and delivers well by keeping it mostly simple. Not outstanding but powerful and needs watching.
Rated 27 Mar 2021
90
87th
A real drama. Or even classical tragedy and more of a theater play than a movie. I may not like the creeping leftist undertones, but I have to bow down before the quality of writing.
Rated 05 Jan 2022
90
95th
masterpiece
Rated 24 Mar 2022
60
35th
I'm a bit of a prude in using even off-color language, but the only way to describe this is "batshit crazy." It is so awkwardly uncomfortable, especially with those constant close-ups, which makes you feel like you can't escape from this surreal event. (Another movie to add to the "aren't you glad you aren't invited to dinner parties" list, with Hour of the Wolf and Exterminating Angel.)
Rated 20 Apr 2022
80
62nd
Might this be the family at the centre of the “Aristocrats†joke? A definite one-of-a-kind experience, with Vinterberg utilising the harsh and ugly rules of Dogme 95 to evoke the feeling of a home movie gone terribly wrong; presenting moments implacably strange and demented as sometimes broad, dark farce creates an uncomfortable, constantly shifting tone which is incredibly disquieting to witness – a second viewing might be mandatory to pull all the threads together, if they don’t snap first!
Rated 29 Jul 2022
79
67th
Talk about uncomfortable family reunions. Compelling story with great acting from complex characters. Unfortunately, I thought it was brought down by the directing. The self imposed limitations of Dogme might be part of this, but the frenetic editing, overuse of Dutch angle shots, often overactive camera, and graininess are more often distracting than enhancing. There are scenes where they work, but many scenes where they seem to be pointless. Good, but should have trusted story and actors more.
Rated 26 Mar 2023
85
70th
Great filming!
Rated 22 Sep 2023
78
84th
subtle yet punchy, clever family drama with a focused vision that's realised with precise direction. the handicam style chosen is a great fit for the intriguing story, and benefits immersion. the family dynamics remind me of hbo's succession.
Rated 03 Dec 2023
91
30th
Handheld camera, jarring transitions, unusual POVs. All of the elements of a thriller without actually being one, The Celebration captures your attention from the get go. You feel that you're watching something unique. A true family tradition.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
60
39th
There's a strong film statement in here, but I admit some surprise that the first Dogme film seems a lot less radical than I anticipated. It could have been effectively unsettling, but I leave it to the imagination to fill the gaps, where for me it starts the same and ends like Riget.

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