The Celebration

A wealthy family gathers at a country hotel to celebrate the patriarch's sixtieth birthday, and the eldest son, Christian, is asked to give a speech in memory of his twin sister Linda, who died the previous year. When he rises at the dinner table, he does not offer the tribute the guests expect, and the evening turns into an open reckoning between the family's polished public face and what its members have preferred to keep quiet. The celebrations continue, but the atmosphere among the assembled relatives and friends does not.

Thomas Vinterberg directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Mogens Rukov, and the film was produced by Birgitte Hald. It was Vinterberg's first feature as director, followed in later years by Dear Wendy, The Hunt, Far from the Madding Crowd, Kursk and Another Round. Ulrich Thomsen plays Christian, with Henning Moritzen as the father, Thomas Bo Larsen as Michael, Paprika Steen as Helene, Birthe Neumann as the mother and Trine Dyrholm as Pia, among a credited cast of fifty.

Made for about one million dollars, the film was a Danish-Swedish co-production involving SVT, DR and Nimbus Film. It holds a rating of 8.1 out of 10 from 47 critics' reviews and 7.7 out of 10 on TMDB from over 1,300 votes, indicating that both critics and a substantial audience regard it highly.