In Celebration

The acting here is quite competent, and it is interesting to watch one of Lindsay Anderson's lesser known films, however adapted from a theatre play, it does not disguise its roots very well, and it is quite talkative with little real action. Action is not necessary for all types of film, but in this case having the characters sitting or standing about while talking is not enough for the material to have spice. It is about emotional confrontations, and sure enough, the performers deliver well in some intense scenes. But as a film and not a theatre production, it only ever feels half-baked, and it certainly does not showcase Anderson's directing skills, which proved to be great in his trilogy with Malcolm McDowell.

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.

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.

If you are looking for some of the wonderful off kilter charm of Lindsey Anderson's other films, you might be disappointed with this. If you are able to respond to great filmed theater along the lines of "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Long Day's Journey Into Night," Olivier's "Othello" and indeed the American Film Theater's great movie "The Homecoming", you may go all the way with this one, which I found a deeply moving experience.

Storey's play has some odd parallels to Pinter's "Homecoming" (a comic horror story of family that is perhaps the best of the brief life of the American Film Theater series) and perhaps primed by that film

I was sort of waiting for something bitter or freakish to occur for about the first half. But it is Storey's purpose to illustrate that even among families of great love and decency, dark secrets and bitter resentments can brew.

The film brings much humor and intensity to the subject. It's a thing of beauty. Critically

the affection Storey has for his characters never slips into sentimentality. This movie was a

big discovery for me. Give it a shot and see what you think.

The great Lindsay Anderson adapts another play for film.

Quite interesting, well acted (a then quite young Alan Bates, Brian Cox, Bill Owen among others) study of dysfunctional working class English family where the three sons have become educated and moved up in the world, but are still stuck in the wounds of their childhood.

The production still feels very stagy, and some of the writing is too theatrical for film, but much of the play is moving and nicely complex; finding ways to combine the personal and the political.

It does feel a bit dated -- from a time when breaking away from living the life your parents expected was still a more radical idea.