Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Prismark10 The family dinner party. Personally I like to avoid them. What is intended to be a celebration, people sitting down eating together, catching up with each other, gossiping, exchanging banter always tends to quickly descend into pettiness, bitterness and ultimately anger.Festen also known as The Celebration is an example why the dinner party is such fertile ground for dramatists. Especially the way it can highlight class conventions and differing mores.The directorial debut of Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, it was part of the Dogme 95 movement, a film made with a low budget, a documentary style, natural lighting, on location and no music score.The film undercuts tragedy with farce. It is a raw film, maybe because the director was a novice but it is also raw because of the content of the screenplay.There is a get together in a mansion of the 60th birthday of Helge Klingenfeldt-Hansen. His eldest son Christian has returned for the party. His twin sister recently committed suicide. His brother Micheal we quickly discover has temper and drink issues. We see him being cruel to his wife, a domestic servant and later to his sister's boyfriend. Helene their other sister is an anthropologist and she has brought her black boyfriend with her. Micheal despises him and is openly racist.During the course of the dinner, Christian stands to give a toast and tells everybody that his father abused him. The rest of the guests are unsure how to react. Christian repeats the accusation, he is forcibly thrown out by his brother Micheal, his mother wants him to apologise. The below stairs staff sensing something, even maybe knowing these accusations are true, make sure no one can escape as they get rid off the car keys.Tragedy, farce, black comedy. The dinner party increasingly becomes toxic, violent and the skeletons from the past are unearthed.

Megan Hutchins I really love this movie. I saw it on cable television a long time ago when I was house sitting and I had no idea who directed it and obviously since it is from Denmark I think or whatever other Nordic or Scandinavian country I certainly would not be able to recognize any of the actors in it.So I'm glad I was able to find it here on IMDb and it didn't take long. Not to say that since I didn't recognize anyone or know about the movie it and they weren't great, it is quite the opposite that is true, I was really amazed by how awesome this movie was.I don't want to spoil it but it is basically a big dinner party with an entire family there to celebrate but instead a terrible family secret is opened up after all these years.A really great story with superb acting that you should not miss, but the subject matter is definitely for mature audiences only so keep the kids away!

Sindre Kaspersen Danish screenwriter and director Thomas Vinterberg's second feature film which he co-wrote with Danish screenwriter Mogens Rukov, is based on an idea by Thomas Vinterberg. It premiered In competition at the 51th Cannes International Film Festival in 1998, was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 23rd Toronto International Film Festival in 1998, was shot on location in Denmark and is a Danish production which was produced by Danish producer Birgitte Hald and in compliance with the rules and intentions set forth in the DOGMA 95 manifesto. It tells the story about a Danish restaurant owner named Christian who lives in Paris, France and who returns to his homeland where his mother named Elsie, his sister named Helene and her friend named Gbatokai, his brother named Michael and his wife named Mette and their three children, his friend named Pia, a waitress named Michelle, a chef named Kim and many other guests are getting prepared at a grand conference hotel where they are to spend the day and night celebrating his father named Helge Klingenfeldt-Hansen's 60th anniversary.Distinctly and brilliantly directed by Nordic filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the main character's point of view, draws an uncanny and throughout engaging portrayal of a son who has kept a family secret ever since his childhood, an uninvited brother who gets into a dispute with his sister's new boyfriend and a waitress with a crush on one of the family members who notices that one of the female guests is flirting with her. While notable for it's distinct and naturalistic milieu depictions, fine cinematography by English cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, editing by Icelandic film editor Valdis Oskarsdottir and use of sound, colors and light, this dialog- driven and narrative-driven story about family relations and traditions which became Thomas Vinterberg's initiation into cinema history and where the distinctions between truths and lies becomes very evident, depicts several dense and interrelated studies of character and contains a timely song sung by the mother of the man at the center of the party with the lyrics : "There is an idyllic quiet peace…".This dramatic, situational and darkly humorous social satire from the late 1990s which is set at a hotel in Denmark during a summer in the 20th century and where a light-hearted and inspirited celebration becomes a shock after the eldest son has asked his father to choose between a green and a yellow speech and all of the guests car keys vanishes, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, efficient continuity, variegated characters, versatile perspectives, the words in a letter : "Dear whoever finds this letter…", the prominent acting performance by Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen, the hilarious, unsettling and authentic acting performance by Danish actor Thomas Bo Larsen, the charming acting performance by Danish actress Trine Dyrholm and the fine acting performances by Danish actresses Paprika Steen, Helle Dolleris, Therese Glahn, actor Gbatokai Dakinah and Danish actors Henning Moritzen and Lars Brygmann. A lingering, impressive and majestic character piece which gained, among numerous other awards, the Special Jury Prize at the 51st Cannes Film Festival in 1998.

manoj0011989 When I saw Jagten (by the same director) I immediately looked for other movies of his and saw this highly rated movie. The movie starts off pretty slow with out much drama/action and I did not understand what was happening at one time but man did it pick up after that.After the first speech I was left with my mouth open thinking what just happened? And then I was absorbed fully . Thomas Vintenberg's direction was spectacular . After watching Festen I was thoroughly disappointed in the quality of movies that are coming out now . Vintenberg achieved with a hand-held camera what many acclaimed directors could not achieve with the world at their feet(in terms of money/ resources) . Watch Festen and enjoy the power of great story telling.