I chose the movie The Celebration, directed by Thomas Vinterberg, to look at through the lenses of postmodern analysis and critical discourse analysis: discourses of race.

Thomas Vinterberg along with director Lars VonTrier (Breaking the Waves, Dogville), are the founders of the Dogme 95 movement. Dogme's goal is "countering 'certain tendencies' in the cinema today" and is a "rescue action" of film and the film industry. Dogme 95 challenges the use of technology in film and by limiting technology challenge directors to rid themselves of "trickery" and "predictability." Because of the democratasation of cinema, Vinterberg and Von Trier contend, directors must preserve the avant-garde by taking a Vow of Chastity Dogme movies are shot on location, using only natural light and sound. The camera must be hand-held, the film must be in color, nothing can happen in the film that does not happen in front of the camera so no murders, and the director must not be credited.

The Celebration is the first Dogme movie and can be looked at with a post-modern lens because it challenges "progress" and "technology" in cinema. Vinterberg shoots this moving film over a 24 hour period, using only natural light and sound and a digital camera. This breaks all of the rules of "Hollywood" blockbusters that have special effects, unnatural lighting, and sound effects up the wazzoo. The action rises and falls with the sun. The constraints Vinterberg puts on himself to create the movie challenge every notion of modern movie making - and he succeeds in making a brilliant film.

The Celebration can also be looked at through the lens of discourse of race. One plot line in the movie is an interracial couple, the main characters sister and her black boyfriend. The film explores bourgeois, European racial attitudes towards blacks. Vinterberg clearly means to remind the viewer that the boyfriend is much more "civilized" and honorable than the bourgeois Europeans who populate the film. The boyfriend is accosted with racial slurs which is preposterous given the situation that is occurring in the main plot line.

Check out the Dogme web site and I highly recommend The Celebration. It's a powerfully crafted and powerful film.