Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5027220701888
Format: Single, PAL, Subtitled
Label: Bluelight
Languages: DanishOriginal LanguageEnglishOriginal LanguageGermanOriginal Language
Manufacturer: Bluelight
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Bluelight
Release Date: October 04, 1998
Running Time: 106 minutes
Studio: Bluelight
Theatrical Release Date: 1999

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Related Items:

• Festen: 10th Year Anniversary Edition [DVD] [1998]
• The Idiots [1999] [DVD]
• House Of Sand And Fog [DVD] [2004]
• Breaking The Waves [DVD] [1996]
• Strange Days [DVD] [1996]
• see more

Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display

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Editorial Review:

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




Rating: - Most probably still the best Scandinavian movie out there
Vinterberg's Festen is a true masterpiece - it intertwines everything from awful family secrets coming to light during the father's 60th birthday celebration, to the relationships between siblings, racism, and and an extreme version of 'looking the other way'.

It is tragic, insightful, as well as deeply funny in a slightly disturbed way. Of all the Dogme 95 movies this one still works best in my opinion and it should also not be so hard to stomach as The Idiots [1999] [DVD] for most ... Read More

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Rating: - Festen DVD 1999
Unfortunatley this product was in the original language with no sub titles, so I have been unable to watch it! When I contacted the supplier I had no response, and the product was very expensive. So I am not pleased at all with the service.

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Rating: - 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.

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Rating: - 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 ... Read More

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Rating: - 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.

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