- The Celebration (1998)
The Celebration (Festen) is directed by Thomas Vinterberg. In this movie a rich family comes together to celebrate the patriarch’s 60th birthday. On the dinner table where many people have gathered, while making a toast, the eldest son reveals a wrongdoing that his dad indulged in, his confession causes chaos. There are two kinds of reactions by the people at the party, either they pretend that they didnt hear anything or they try to shut him up.
This the first film of the Dogma 95 movement started by Thomas Vinterberg and Lars Von Trier. The manifesto of this movement was basically that films will be made on a low budget – they will be shot on location, a handheld camera will be used, no props will be allowed on set and no external audio would be added after the movie is done.
This film is really well written. At it’s core it shows how people use culture to deal with unpleasantness. It points fingers at some of the negative aspects of the Danish culture. I loved how this film portrays human dynamics. It shows how this guy who’s the victim of something heinous has to face a night of humiliation either because people dont believe him or because they want to live in denial. The film is shot on a handheld camera that makes the film look like a home video. And I think that’s perfect for the film, because it is set around a family gathering, so it makes it look real. There is also use of dark humour that I thought was very well done. The film is about an uncomfortable subject, so the humor adds some light.
The Celebration is a great example of minimalist filmmaking. Do check it out, it may make you uncomfotable at times but it’s all very well done.
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
Being John Malkovich is directed by Spike Jonze and written by one of my favourite screenwritesr, Charlie Kaufman. John Cusack plays a down on his luck puppeteer. So he takes up a job. Once while working late at night he comes across a portal that can take you inside the head of actor, John Malkovich.
This is one of the most crazy concepts to have ever graced the big screen. This film is an example of surrealist cinema done right. All thanks to Charlie Kaufman’s masterpiece of a screenplay. Charlie Kaufman is known to subvert all the typical Hollywood tropes. His films dont even follow the traditional three act structure, he likes to experiment and finds the traditional structute boring. So all his films are extremely original.
This film is really meta, the dialogues are smart, the character arcs are extremely well done. The film shows a lot of stuff that I couldn’t even imagine being put on the screen. But Kaufman and Spike Jonze find a way. It has a lot of twists and turns from beginning to end and all of them surprised the hell out of me. There are also some statements on our existence that will make you think. I loved how weird the characters are, John Cusack is this pervert of a puppeteer, Cameron Diaz is unrecognizable as his wife. She plays this kinda nerdy woman who works at a pet store. When i saw this film for the first time, this film made me realiise how great of an actress Catherine Keener is. She is more or less the negative character in this couple’s lives. There is this very weird and unconventional love triangle between them which I dont want to spoil for you. John Malkovich is fantastic as himself and I’m really glad that he picked this weird and ballsy film.
In the end I’d just like to say that Being John Malkovich is one of the best films I’ve ever seen. It’s an extremely original and funny film that will keep you entertained and would surprise you at every turn.
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