Members of a prominent Danish family gather at their gorgeous manor home for their patriarchs 60th birthday celebration, shortly after the suicide of one of his daughters. When the deceased's twin brother rises to toast his father, instead of warm anecdotes and glowing praises, bestows tales of gross sexual abuse which has haunted plagued his own life and led his sister to take her own. Now chaos ensues, where members of the family seek to restore order and censor their loose-lipped brother, all of which leads to a troubling and ultimately cathartic experience. "The Celebration" is a dark family drama from Thomas Vinterberg (who refused a directing credit) that was made under the "pure cinema" rules of the Dogma 95 Movement started by fellow Danish filmmakers. The film laughs in the face of generic American family films and creates something deeper and haunting. Its cast is uniformly excellent and I found Ulrich Thomsen's to be among the best, in the difficult role of the depressed and confrontational son. (spoiler) Most movies involving family reunions offer us cookie cutter characters and easy resolutions. By the time we've endured the stark trials of the unique and dysfunctional family here, we can't help but enjoy their deserved final happy sequence.
