"The Celebration" has been languishing in my DVD queue for months, hovering near the top but always being postponed in favor of a more recent recommendation. its turn finally came, and i was thoroughly blown away by it. i found out as the opening credits played that the film was the first movie made according to Dogme 95 requirements, and i was impressed with how polished and cohesive (in comparison to my only other experience with Dogme filmmaking, Korine's "Julien Donkey Boy") the whole thing turned out to be. i've said it before and i'll say it again: few things fill me with more admiration than financially resourceful executions of engaging visual storytelling. solid creativity can function on any budget, and this film exemplifies how much you can do with a bit of precise editing, some murky lighting, fantastic acting, and impeccable direction. the dream/drunk sequence towards the end was probably the most moving, most spot-on depiction of semi-consciousness that i have ever seen. also, while the plot revolves around tragic victimization, blatant/uncomfortable confrontation, and the struggle towards recovery within a family, it never feels like the "movie version" of something that happens in real life; it feels like the "real life version" (this from the perspective of someone who's never experienced anything like the film's premise first or second or even third hand). as a viewer, you're included as a guest at the table, you're a bystander trying to figure out how or if- once a horrendous act can no longer be ignored or denied- it might be possible to keep on existing.
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