The Shuswap Film Society invites you to The Party, where you can be a fly on the wall in Janet and Bill’s posh London flat with a gathering of their friends. As we arrive, we’re taken aback at the first scene of a rage-filled Janet opening the door and it’s far from a warm welcome. Fade to black and let the party begin.
The host and celebrant of the party, Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas), is busy fielding phone calls from well-wishers, and madly preparing a dinner to celebrate her political promotion to Shadow Minister of Health. Her husband Bill seems less enthusiastic about her accomplishment, offers no help, and broods in the adjoining room, drinking wine and spinning records. Maybe it’s because he gave up his academic career for his wife’s political ambitions, or maybe something else is afoot.
Their liberal elite friends begin to arrive. Janet’s sharp-tongued longest friend and American, April (Patricia Clarkson), is accompanied by her apparently no-longer partner Gottfried, a touchy-feely, self described healer. Bill’s former colleague and women’s studies professor Martha and her much-younger wife and culinary expert Jinny arrive with a celebratory announcement of their own. The “wanker banker” financier husband of Janet’s colleague Marianne arrives sans Marianne and immediately goes to the bathroom to do a line of coke and nervously fidgets with a gun he brought with him…does he have a hidden agenda?
Before we detail how the party goes off the rails, we should say that this is a splendid ensemble comedy/drama, with a uniformly strong cast, extremely well-written dialogue, very funny moments and unexpected twists. Although the script is full of lacerating one-liners, there are some real belly laughs. As serious as it gets, it never stops being funny, often uncomfortably so. With wickedly witty and cerebral lines, writer and director Sally Potter’s scathing satire takes aim at politicians, academics and financiers and their ambition, insincerity and hypocrisy. Nothing is sacred here.
We return to the party, the champagne is flowing, and the initial congratulatory mood changes as the conversation encompasses sex, religion, politics, feminism, love and betrayal. Differing opinions are shared, voices are raised, and arguing and nastiness ensue. As tensions mount, Gottfried tries in vain to smooth things over. Eventually the celebration takes a further turn for the worst as grievances are aired, secrets are divulged, confessions are revealed, and marital affairs exposed. With one bombshell revelation after another, Janet’s “big night” doesn’t turn out exactly as she had hoped.
The Party is shot in almost real time in the single location and the roaming camera moves us around the rooms to give us the sense of being there, even overhearing conversations. Shot in black and white, the lack of colour is surprising at first, but quickly becomes second nature, and complements the minimal production design.
It moves along quickly (71 minutes), with an element of mystery hinted at by the first scene.
We’re glad we’re not a part of this group, but wouldn’t have missed The Party for the world, as we’re unlikely to attend such an action-packed soirée again.
No RSVP necessary. Just come to the Salmar Classic on Saturday, March 24 at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. (two showings). Rated R.
