They have barely begun to enjoy the evening banquet when Helge's eldest son, Christian, is invited to make a toast and reveals that his father is in fact a paedophile, whose relentless sexual abuse of Christian and his twin sister as children drove her to suicide and him to despair. Festen is a deeply disturbing film. It also looks and feels very different. The camera work is jittery and grainy. The sound is stripped of any musical score.
Actions here have consequences that ripple out, seemingly forever.
After watching the film, critics have noted, audiences often sit in silence stunned at the emotional violence of it all. Although Festen received considerable acclaim, including the 1998 Prix De Jury in Cannes, Thomas Vinterberg's name appeared nowhere on the credits. That, along with the film's distinctive look, was a stipulation of Dogma rules. In 1995, Lars Von Trier, the acclaimed Danish director of Breaking The Waves , had an idea for this new style of film making. He called up his friend, Mr Vinterberg, and the two of them drew up a list of how a film should be made.