"It's one thing not wanting to talk about it,
but covering it all up is just silly."
but covering it all up is just silly."
The Vow of Chastity
Today in class, I would like you to develop some questions about The Celebration. This film is meant to disrupt your equilibrium. How does it achieve this end? How WELL does it do so? Articulate your ideas in question form to promote discussion with the class. Are we supposed to watch this film AS a film, or experience it as an event? Do the filmmakers want us to have an artistic experience, or are we meant to have a transformative emotional one? Either way, it IS still a film, right? Or does Dogme 95 want a film that is not just a film? The way Christian forces the truth upon his audience, perhaps, is the way the director wants to force the truth upon us. Are we willing participants, unlike most of the family members at the dinner? Come up with THREE essential questions you'd like to ask about the film. Look into the film for the heart of its purpose. Here are some dimensions to consider:
- The Vow of Chastity
- public truth and private truth
- the formality of toasting
- persuasion and protest
When discussing the film with your classmates, please write two STATEMENTS about the film. One of the statements should be a debatable, controversial claim about the content of the film (story, character, etc.), and one of the statements should be a debatable, controversial claim about the structure or technique of the film (plot, camera work, editing, etc.). Write these down in your discussion notes.
Both statements must be STATEMENTS, not questions, and try your best to make them debatable. They should INVITE debate because they clearly involve ambiguity and multiple possible answers. You do not have to agree with the statements you make, but you must have an actual position you can articulate and defend for the statements you make.
Here are some debatable statements from me:
- Festen is a film about protest.
- Festen is a protest film.
- Christian is a tragic hero.
- Festen is a ghost story.
- The emotional brutality of Festen is necessary to its goal of truth telling.
- Festen tells the truth.
