In Celebration

As one of the American Film Theatre movies, "In Celebration" is difficult to find on tape, but this story of an English family gathering for the parents' anniversary deserves a wider audience. Three grown sons argue over their individual problems while Mum bustles about cluelessly and Da waits uneasily for whichever crisis might erupt first. As the angry brother with some unresolved issues, Alan Bates makes the strongest impression, but the other actors are excellent as well.

This is what they should reserve the word drama for. Very powerful and real performances all around. Alan Bates gives a rousing portrayal as the older brother Andy, who constantly berates and somewhat belittles everyone of his family members. He is the star apparently, but little known Brian Cox also shines as the younger brother Steven. He is pretty young in this one, but his acting has and always will be phenomenal in almost anything he does. The movie itself is a bit lagging in terms of pace and story. All the brothers come home and tension ensures, not much more I can give away than that. It's worth checking out for Brian Cox fans, such as myself. I really enjoyed this film and it's more emotional fare than I'm used to. As real to life as any drama can get.

Lindsay Anderson directs a stage play adapted by writer David Storey.

It is set in a Derbyshire mining town as Mr and Mrs Shaw (Bill Owen and Constance Chapman) celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary and their three sons have come to join in with the celebrations.

Mr Shaw is a miner, he plans to complete his 50th year in the mine pit which is next year and retire. His sons want him to retire now. Mrs Shaw seems to have come from a well to do family, she might had become pregnant by her husband hence she married beneath him yet she does not come across as too bright but seems to have been a dutiful wife and mother.

Tensions emerge once all the sons come around and there seems to be memories of the eldest child who died as a boy which no one is sure of why which seems to be the catalyst.

Andrew (Alan Bates) is the eldest and the most fractious. He is a solicitor who has gone on to become a drifter and a artist off sorts.

Colin (James Bolam) seems to have been left wing rebel now a negotiator for his company, a well off executive with a company car but unmarried. Again Andrew pulls his leg by questioning his sexuality.

Steven (Brian Cox) the youngest is a writer but has stopped writing. He is married with children but seems to be haunted by the past.

Periodically their neighbour Mrs Burnett drops in.

The film is a series of tensions that come on and off the boil interspersed with humour. The trouble is it looks too much of a stage play which has not been opened up. It is nicely acted but some of it was hard to understand as well. It actually does not feel like a feature film but more like a BBC Play for Today.

A very slow and extremely tedious film about a Yorkshire family reuniting up north to celebrate their parents anniversary.

Unfortunately, it's not filmed in Yorkshire, and there's not a real Yorkshire accent to be heard anywhere! Even old 'Compo' couldn't convince anyone he was a Yorkshireman... maybe because he was actually a southerner!

Strangely the classic film "Brassed Off" is a better portrayal of Yorkshire folk in an old mining village, and one of the stars was Scottish!

There are brief moments of good acting from the all star cast, but they are few and far between in this bore of a movie.

'In Celebration' is not my favourite of the plays adapted on film for the American Film Theatre series. Do prefer the ones with more complex characterisation and the ones with more of an emotional core, such as 'The Iceman Cometh' and 'Three Sisters'. As a play, 'In Celebration' is still very good and very interesting. It is hard to resist such great actors, such as Alan Bates, James Bolam and Brian Cox, and a fine director in Lindsay Anderson.

As far as the American Film Theatre films go, 'In Celebration' is not one of the best. It's not 'The Iceman Cometh', 'The Homecoming' and 'Butley'. It is still in the better half in a film series where most were in the middling category, and something of a relief after being very underwhelmed by 'Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris' shortly beforehand. It's not perfect, but it is still incredibly well acted (a common strength in the series) and intelligently staged.

Shall get the not so good things out of the way. Nothing is done terribly but some things work better than others. Like most other films in the American Film Theatre series, the stage origins are obvious and not a lot is done opening the action up in such an intimate setting and while much of the stage direction is very intelligent with the character dynamics it's a little on the safe side.

The ending, and this is true of the play itself actually, is abrupt and it also feels incomplete. It at times drags in the talkier sections and the suspense could have been more.

Like pretty much all the American Film Theatre films, the best component of 'In Celebration' is the acting. Bates' hard hitting performance is justifiably lauded, but Bolam and particularly Cox are also splendid and should not be overlooked. Anderson directs with a lot of intelligence and stays loyal to the spirit and details of the play beautifully on the whole. The film is nicely shot and the intimate setting doesn't always come over as over-confined.

Furthermore, the drama is more often than not very harrowing and moving, especially when the already richly drawn characters are more troubled. The script is wry and thoughtful and captures beautifully and the characters' complexities (namely the most troubled Steven). Christopher Gunning's score is unobtrusive and subtle enough, allowing the atmosphere created by the performances to speak.

Overall, not perfect but there is a lot to be impressed by and celebrate. 7/10.