Festen
Thomas Vinterberg
A man brings together his family and friends to his manor for a day of celebration. His wife and three children are there. Christian, the eldest, is asked by his father to say a few words during the dinner about Linda, his twin sister who died a year earlier. But when the time comes, Christian reveals terrible secrets…
With : Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Paprika Steen, Birthe Neumann, Trine Dyrholm, Helle Dolleris, Therese Glahn, Klaus Bondam, Ulrich Thomsen
Screenplay : Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
Editing : Valdis Oskarsdottir
Sound : Morten Holm
Music : Lars Bo Jensen
Image : Anthony Dod Mantle
Screenplay : Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
Editing : Valdis Oskarsdottir
Sound : Morten Holm
Music : Lars Bo Jensen
Image : Anthony Dod Mantle
Production : Nimbus films, Danemark Radio, SVT Drama
Festen (The Celebration) is Thomas Vinterberg's second film, and falls with the Dogma he co-created with Lars von Trier in 1995, and which is based on the founding principles such as filming on location without sets or artificial lighting, the no temporal alien. Festen relates, over a few hours, and with raw realism, the breakdown of a family. Thomas Vinterberg wanted to take on the “claustrophobic and stifling side of the family”. “I must admit I was more attracted by the traditional family structure, having grown up in a community which didn't know it. The family survives, united, eternal. It is the only institution in life which you don't choose, and which you cannot destroy. It's fascinating” (Thomas Vinterberg).