''In Celebration'' is a 1975 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered f ...

. It is based in the 1969 stage production of the same name by

David Storey David Malcolm Storey (13 July 1933 – 27 March 2017) was an English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist and a professional rugby league player. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel '' Saville''. He also won the MacMillan ...

which was also directed by Anderson. The movie was produced and released as part of the

American Film Theatre From 1973 to 1975, using approximately 500 movie theaters across the US, The American Film Theatre presented two seasons of film adaptations of well-known plays. Each film was shown only four times at each theatre. By design, these were not films ...

, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series. It was meant to be shown

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

ly with tickets sold in advance.

Synopsis

The film takes place in the

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

mining town of Langwith. The Shaws' three sons have returned home to celebrate their 40th

wedding anniversary A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date a wedding took place. Couples may take the occasion to celebrate their relationship, either privately or with a larger party. Special celebrations and gifts are often given for particular ann ...

. Mr. Shaw has been a coal miner for 49 years, and has only one year left until retirement. Mrs Shaw is the daughter of a pig breeder, meaning she came from a higher social class. The parents urged their sons to abandon their father's trade in pursuit of professional careers, but the results have not been entirely positive. Andrew, the eldest, became a solicitor but has abandoned it to pursue painting. Colin, who was a

Communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

member for a year, is now a prosperous but unfulfilled

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, a ...

manager for a car manufacturer, dealing with negotiations with the unions. The youngest brother, Steven, is a teacher, married with four children, and has abandoned a book he had been writing for several years. The family go to an expensive restaurant, although the action is almost entirely in the couple's living room. A friendly neighbour is present for some of the scenes. The film examines the tensions which develop over the course of one evening as the family reunite. The family recall unpleasant incidents, including a premarital pregnancy, physical abuse, child neglect, the death of the couple's first son, the mother's suicide attempt and the

outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

of another son.

Cast

In order of appearance: * Steven Shaw: Brian Cox * Mrs Burnett: Gabrielle Daye * Mr. Shaw: Bill Owen * Colin Shaw:

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in '' The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy F ...

* Andrew Shaw :

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

* Mrs. Shaw:

Constance Chapman Constance Chapman (29 March 1912 – 10 August 2003) was an English character actor working in theatre and television. She also made occasional film appearances. She made her stage debut in 1938 in ''Hay Fever'' at the Knightstone Theatre, West ...

Reception

''In Celebration'' received favourable reviews during its theatrical run.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death i ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', praised Anderson for having "succeeded in making a very complete, full-bodied film of Mr. Storey's play without being tricky or intrusive…Mr. Anderson has also gotten terrific performances from everyone, especially Mr. Bates, Miss Chapman and Mr. Cox, as the most troubled of the Shaw sons." ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'' echoed the sentiment, noting "Anderson and a superb cast have made a harrowing and satisfying suspense drama."New York Magazine review
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References

External links

* * {{Lindsay Anderson 1975 films 1975 LGBT-related films Films directed by Lindsay Anderson Films produced by Ely Landau Films scored by Christopher Gunning British drama films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios 1975 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films