Cinematic Waffle

by Yağmur Zubaroğlu

Hello dear old and new dwellers of UCU! Welcome to my first ever film column. After long hours during class, I decided that the very first film I will be writing to you about is Festen (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998): Danish dark comedy at its finest.

Helge, the respected family patriarch, decides to celebrate his 60th birthday at a countryside manor. The whole family is invited: drunk uncles, long lost cousins, elders with questionable opinions, and of course, family secrets. We are welcomed by Helge’s three grown-up children Christian, Michael, and Helene. It is your usual family gathering with endless small talk and subtle show-offs, until Christian makes a speech nobody will ever forget.

Serious accusations and life changing confessions are revealed throughout the night! Unspeakable scandals! And then, then…? Nothing. Nothing happens. Christian’s speech proceeds with the main course. Both the family and the guests refuse to see the ginormous two-headed elephant in the room. We face many hard truths as the night goes on. Yet, harder truths only lead to greater denial. The plot progresses in a cruel cycle of action and no-reaction. The carelessness of the crowd reaches to such an absurd degree that is very very annoying at times. good guys don’t win, justice is not served, and the lesson is not learnt. But this is what we are here for. We’re here to watch the celebration. We came to this Danish manor to celebrate, and that is what we are doing. Regardless of the scandals, The Celebration continues. article continues on page 11

Of course the reader is given a map with the layout of the house, and the formal invitation to the party with a helpful guest list to try and work it out (I can’t say I didn’t try). It sounds easy enough, with a week’s worth of chances to investigate. But then there's the fact that there are others in the house like Aiden, and only one of them is going to be allowed to escape. In a similar effort to make things difficult, it turns out that the lines between Aiden's own conscience and that of the person he inhabits are becoming more and more blurred each day, and solving the mystery will get harder and harder.

This book doesn’t follow the old formula, but it draws from its best parts and unnerving atmosphere to create something really inventive and original. It’s a little hard to get your head around the time travel fantasy parameters sometimes, sure. But I suggest you surrender to its dazzling magic anyway, it worked pretty well for me. This was one of the most creepy, enjoyable and absorbing reading experiences I’ve had. So go along for the ride. You won’t regret it.

What I like – or actually, LOVE about this film is the absurdity hidden in lines. While watching Festen, we are on a futile look out for “something to happen”. At the end of the film, after whatever happens happens (I’m trying hard not to spoil), we see the guests eating together again, having breakfast this time. That’s it! Even at the end of the film, the celebration still continues.

And now, I will be cheesy enough to say that that’s life. Whatever happens and whatever we do, in the end, life continues. I realised after seeing Festen that life is an absurd celebration with lots and lots of dark comedy. Good guys don’t always win, and sometimes just nothing happens. And guess what? It continues regardless.

On a historical note, Festen is more than just the best film in the world – it is the very first film of the Dogme 95 movement.

Created by two Danish friends Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg in 1995, the

“Dogme 95 Manifesto” aimed to return to the traditional values of cinema. The goal was to “take back power for the directors as artists” as Vinterberg said. “Vow of Chastity” included no special effects, no filters, no additional props. Only hand-held cameras were allowed, and shooting had to be done on location. The movement grew quickly with the involvement of other directors. Soon enough the “Dogme Certificate” came around to honour the directors who manage to abide by the rules. Although it was a turning point in low-budget film production, Dogme 95 rules weren’t easy to follow.