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Saw Celebration this week. It was filmed, according to the
prominent message posted at the beginning, according to the
Manifesto 95 principles. I faintly remember reading an interview
about the director in the New York Times several months ago. The
directors who sign the pact use natural light, natural sound
(recorded at the moment of filming). I don't remember the rest of
their tenets.
Celebration is the story of a Danish family
gathering at a large estate like country inn to celebrate the
owner's 60th birthday. It comes shortly after the suicide of one
of his daughters. The dead woman's twin brother owns restaurants
in Paris. He is blond and stoic, and returns back to this place
which he had left many years before. His brother, a white trash
kind of fellow, drinks too much and tries too hard at everything
he does, comes with his wife and little daughters. The other
sister, sexy and friendly, appears to be borderline nuts. The
mother is formal and sees nothing but beauty and love. (It's
almost like seeing a Danish version of something written by
Tennesee Williams).
A variety of aunts and uncles and cousins also
come for the celebration, and a plumpish German man plays the
role of toastmaster for the evening. Dressed in formal attire,
the party moves from parlor to dining room, following an
elaborate order, as old women sing sentimental Danish songs, and
old men tell slightly raunchy jokes.
The twin son gets up to give a toast to his
father. With glasses raised in anticipation, frozen smiles creep
across everybody's faces as the brother begins to tell dark
family secrets. Three times, he confronts his parents, and it is
only at the last time that there is some kind of emotional
reaction. (Perhaps one of the manifesto planks is improvisation
by the actors, because the reactions are really odd and delayed).
The toastmaster pulls himself together each time, and the party
lurches foward again, with the unreality of the social situation
matched by the flickering, grainy pictures of the film, lit by
candlelight.
Like "Breaking the Waves," there are
lots of hand held camera shots and rough edits.
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