A Private Function
by Malcolm Mowbray
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Denholm Elliott, Maggie Smith, Michael Palin, Richard Griffiths, Tony HaygarthDirector: Malcolm Mowbray
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of A Private Function
Movie Review: The Power of Ham in Post WW II: Palin and Smith Shine in this Dry Wit Comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
Much more reserved than a Monty Python film but Palin's humor is excellently dry in this unique film about a strained married couple during post war WW II England that was stil experiencing shortages, particularly meat. Palin plays a podiatrist married to Maggie Smith, who obviously and reluctantly settled for him as opposed to a more, in her mind, prestigious physician or other socially upward chap. As post war England is still in the midst of a severe meat shortage, requiring rationing, those with meat are much higher up the social ladder and become the "in crowd". And on the flip side, those who suddenly possess meat, whether through legal means or otherwise, can procure money, sex or other special favors. Palin playing the severely reprimanded husband can never seem to please his wife, or have the benefits of any affection what so ever, stumbles across a pig and suddenly his stock rises in the eyes of his wife. One of the funniest scenes is Smith's matter of fact reference to sex that both astonishes and paralyzes Palin as apparently those privileges were severely limited, if granted at all, and perhaps prior inquiries were met with severe abuse. Hence Palin's shock at the mere mention of the possibility. There is a very minor touch of nudity in a limited but humorous sexual scene so for a reasonably mature audience.
Summary of A Private Function
Michael Palin (A Fish Called Wanda) teams with Oscar?(r) winner* Maggie Smith (Gosford Park) in this uproarious comedy in which 'the laughs come fast (Variety) and the upper class becomes furious! Co-starring Denholm Elliott, Pete Postlethwaite and one divine swine, this hilarious comedy is alive and unruly, [and] the humor keeps boiling up (Pauline Kael, The New Yorker)! Life isn't easy in 1947 Yorkshire, where strict post-war rationing is putting the squeeze on the townspeople. But when a married working-class couple (Palin and Smith) discovers that the town's wealthy elite has been secretly fattening up an illegal pig for their own selfish gluttony, they hatch an outlandish kidnapping scheme that gives new meaning to the phrase bringing home the bacon ! *1969: Actress, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; 1978: Supporting Actress, California SuiteArt House & International DVD Video
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