Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27860 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-11-10
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Danish, English, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Rising to the challenge of Dogma 95's self-imposed restrictions on aesthetic freedom, Thomas Vinterberg's Festen is a remarkable example of the way limits can give rise to creative opportunity. (Dogma 95 is a vow of chastity sworn originally by a group of Danish film-makers, which also includes Lars von Trier, director of Breaking the Waves. The group's manifesto in which its members vow to eschew special lighting, optical effects, props and the visible imprint of a director's personality in order to attain higher truths yielded by characters.) Festen, shot with a small video camera and transferred to 35mm film, concerns a black-tie birthday gathering for a family patriarch, Helge (Henning Moritzen), which erodes into a battle after long-suppressed secrets are revealed and the chance to settle old scores presents itself. Among the grievances are an accusation of incest and the responsibility for the death of a child--gruesome stuff, but Vinterberg doesn't characterise the partying crowd's reaction in quite the way one might have expected. In fact, the whole of Festen is about unexpected perspectives and vantage points emerging from out of nowhere, largely due to Vinterberg's free hand at editing the film in such a way as to yank truth from every corner. This is a strong work that belies scepticism over Dogma 95's bare-bones trendiness, and is perhaps a harbinger of great work to come from Vinterberg. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

Synopsis
A man celebrates his sixtieth birthday with friends, relatives, his wife and children. This is a film about love, hate, the icy charm of the bourgeoisie and the loving arms of the chambermaid. Danish dialogue.

Customer Reviews

Disturbing and Awesome
I really don't use the word awesome lightly; this film inspires awe. It is so devastating I don't think I could bare to see it again due to how much of an impact it had on me watching it, but please don't let that put you off. Everyone must see this film once.I don't want to spoil it for you by giving anything away; just watch it. You will never be so affected by any other film. Promise.

Thought provoking
I have just watched the film "Festen" and it was excellent. The film was well made and shot and had some great characters.

Coming from a family where my dad and mum were emotionally abusive towards me, I could see where Christian was coming from. He had being dying to tell his Dad for some time that he was abused as a child and his sister killed as a result of his actions. I love when Christian was leading upto tell his Dad his news and he couldn't keep still, fidgiting. That what I was like when I confronted my Dad, so I know how he felt and how relieved he felt afterwards.

If you have been in this situation or you just want to watch a gripping and fast moving film, then watch this.

Gary.

Incredible
This film is absolutely, mind-blowingly incredible. It's like watching a revolution erupt in front of you. So real and so fantastically subversive. Brilliant in more ways than it is possible to say.