In Sally Potter’s THE PARTY, what starts out as a quiet little celebration rapidly transforms into a series of shocking revelations and emotional meltdowns in this delicious dark comedy. The resulting film crackles with energy, head-whipping twists, and whip-smart humor. What starts out as a happy occasion quickly devolves into shocking revelations, verbal fireworks and general debacle.
THE PARTY packs in a lot in its mere 71 minutes. Shot in a crisp black and white, writer/director Potter gets right down to business of introducing these sharp-witted and often acid tongue characters and hen upsetting what was supposed to be a quiet little celebration with old friends after a long-sought victory, along with everyone’s carefully built world.
Newly-elected British politician Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) has invited a few other couples to her home for a little party in her London home to celebrate her recent triumph at the polls. Janet and her husband Bill have invited three long-time friends who share their political views and party. The election is a culmination of Janet’s career and all their ambitions for their political party. Well, for three of the couples. The fourth couple invited is a younger woman politician from the opposition party, with whom Janet will have to work, and her American banker husband. The stage is set for some fireworks.
First to arrive is Janet’s acerbic best friend April (Patricia Clarkson) and her German boyfriend Gottfried (Bruno Ganz), a smiling old-hippie “life coach” given to spouting aphorisms and Buddhist philosophy who is clearly on his way out in April’s affections. Janet’s husband Bill (Timothy Spall), an academic who sacrificed his own career to support Janet’s ambitions, seems remarkable subdued. Next to arrive are Martha (Cherry Jones), Janet and Bill’s radical feminist friend and her younger new wife Jinny (Emily Mortimer) who is now pregnant. The three couples then await, with a bit of dread, the arrival of the fourth, with the new co-worker from the opposition party, but instead only the American husband Tom (Cillian Murphy) shows up, saying his wife will join them later. The husband is clearly distressed, the reason for which we will eventually see.
As champagne corks pop, one after another surprise announcement ramps up the tensions in this evening of fun and games. The appearance of a gun boosts the potential for more than just people shooting off their mouths and verbal violence.
It is quite an assembly of acting talent and writer/director Sally Potter makes brilliant use of them all. Sally Potter, whose previous films include 2012’s GINGER AND ROSA, is known for intelligent and challenging independent films. She describes this film as “a comedy wrapped around a tragedy.” Janet and her long-time friends consider themselves, in the words of director Sally Potter, “morally right and politically left,” and have a sort of smugness about that view of themselves, a bubble that invites popping.
There is a bit of a modern “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” to this story, in that what starts out staid and sophisticated becomes anything but as secrets are revealed. THE PARTY has the same feeling that the characters are trapped in this confined space until all the elements have played out. Bill starts the evening debacle off by throwing the first bomb but soon all the couples have revelations and shocks for the gathering.
The title is clearly a play on words for both the gathering and the unnamed political party which and her friends have long supported. Potter uses the sharp-tongued interactions between the characters to poke a bit of satiric fun at British politics, particularly the Labor Party. At times, the characters will talk about high-minded views and then undercut their own idealism with political maneuvering.
While politics are discussed, the real focus of the humor is on human foibles. All the cast are excellent but Patricia Clarkson nearly steals the show as the acid-tongued April. Time after time, April’s pointed criticisms and blunt views both underline absurdities and get to the real point that others are dancing around. Cherry Jones is a major culprit, dancing around generational differences in her relationship with her much younger wife. Bruno Ganz, as the goofy dreamer and would-be wise man is particularly funny, a perfect foil to April. Timothy Spall’s Bill and Ganz’s Gottfried engage in a bit of self-delusional lunacy that is as funny as it is horrifying. Cillian Murphy’s character starts out as an enigma but eventually is revealed as a linchpin of the drama under the comedy.
No spoilers but the film ends with a final shot that is the perfect cherry on the top of this satiric confection. This satire lets the air out of many sails as one revelation follows another in this bitingly funny film. It packs more dark comedy and satiric jabs in its brief running time than several the usual parlor drama. THE PARTY is an invitation you should accept.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
