Celebration

First on More4 Feb 2007; rpt 25 Dec 2007 9pm.
Harold Pinter's dark comedy filmed for More4 with an all-star cast including Colin Firth and Michael Gambon.

Read viewers' comments
Play the Pinter quiz

Two sets of diners in an expensive restaurant trade stories of affairs and casual insults, while the restaurant's staff look in on them, giving glimpses into their own pasts.

Pinter creates a war of words which barely masks what is really going on behind the scenes. But the waiter, played by Stephen Rea, whose far-fetched name-dropping is simultaneously laughable and sad – his grandfather was DH Lawrence's drinking partner and James Joyce's godmother – comes closest to basic self-knowledge.

There is no action in Celebration, words is what Pinter specialises in, and Celebration is as devastating as any of his plays from the last half of the 20th century. Nobody says what they really mean and every exchange is a power struggle, more often than not motivated by sex. The genuine isolation of the weak characters – the waiter in Celebration – is ignored or exploited. But there are plenty of laughs.

Can't see the video? You will need Windows Media Player to watch these clips. Download here