Festen

"Every family has a secret."

Jun 19 1998 R 1h 45m
Drama

The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a shocking secret.

Plot

When a father turns 60, his large family gathers at a castle to celebrate him. Everybody likes and respects him deeply--or do they? The youngest son is trying to live up to his father's expectations; he runs a grill-bar in a dirty part of Copenhagen. The oldest son runs a restaurant in France; the sister is an anthropologist. The older sister has recently committed suicide and the father asks the oldest son to say a few words about her, because he is afraid he will break into tears if he does it himself. The oldest son agrees without argument. Actually he has already written two speeches. A yellow and a green one. At the table, he asks the father to pick a speech. The father chooses green. The oldest son announces that this is the Speech of Truth. Everybody laughs, except for the father, who looks nervous: he knows that his oldest son is about to reveal the secret of why his sister killed herself.

Written by

Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov

Directed by

Thomas Vinterberg

Production Countries

Sweden, Denmark

Production Companies

Nimbus Film, SVT, DR

Languages

English, Deutsch, Dansk

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award28 wins & 23 nominations total

Scores
# of Votes
100,234
Average Rating
8 out of 10
Metascore
82
Popularity
NA