The Party **** (2017, Patricia Clarkson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall, Cillian Murphy, Emily Mortimer, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones) – Movie Review

‘You’re a first class lesbian and a second rate thinker. Must be all those women’s studies.’ Writer-director Sally Potter’s 71-minute black and white tragic-comedy drama is great – stylish, witty and clever. I hadn’t expected it to be so funny!

Patricia Clarkson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall are outstanding in a fantastic ensemble that also includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Mortimer, Bruno Ganz, and Cherry Jones.

Kristin Scott Thomas plays nervy London politician Janet, who is the hostess of a drinks party to celebrate her new work promotion. But when the guests arrive, things don’t run as freely as the red wine, as usual, you might say. Talk about things not going to plan! can’t people just be nice? Can’t life just work out well for once? Apparently not!

Clarkson’s character is tremendously bitchy, Thomas’s is hugely tormented and Spall’s greatly troubled in that special hangdog way of his. These are masterclass performances.

With brevity the soul of wit, The Party is a total delight and pleasure. It is really quite brilliant. It is beautifully shot by Aleksei Rodionov and crisply edited with a nice soundtrack.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

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