Synopsis
During a family gathering, a celebration for their father's 60th birthday, the eldest son presents a speech that reveals a shocking secret to everyone.
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Cast
- Ulrich ThomsenChristian
- Henning MoritzenFaderen
- Thomas Bo LarsenMichael
- Paprika SteenHelene
- Birthe NeumannModeren
- Trine DyrholmPia
- Helle DollerisMette
- Therese GlahnMichelle
- Klaus BondamToastmasteren
- Bjarne HenriksenKokken
Recommendations
- 91
Entertainment Weekly
Out of the zany strictures of Dogma 95...Danish newcomer Thomas Vinterberg has made a funny, volatile, visually dynamic story about the unraveling of one extended family during the course of a patriarchal 60th-birthday dinner. - 90
The New York Times
Though it dedicates itself to avoiding directorial egotism, in accordance with strict rules of the Danish filmmakers' collective known as Dogma 95, Thomas Vinterberg's Celebration is still a virtuoso feat. - 89
Austin Chronicle
This Danish film is an alternately funny and harrowing look at a family crisis, a meltdown that blends the needs of the truthsayers with the instincts of the let's-bury-our-heads-in-the-sand-and-pretend-none-of-this-is-happening types. - 88
ReelViews
he Celebration rips apart the placid facade of a familiar subject, leaving its audience stunned. As difficult as the film can at times be, the patient viewer will be rewarded. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
It's a tribute to The Celebration that the style and the story don't stumble over each other. The script is well planned, the actors are skilled at deploying their emotions, and the long day's journey into night is fraught with wounds that the farcical elements only help to keep open. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Despite the awkward, stomach- churning camera movements and the grainy, flat images that come with insufficient lighting, the actors' work is often riveting and compelling. - 50
Variety
A propulsively inventive but uneven family comedy-cum-melodrama.
