The Party: 3 B’s… Black n’ White, Bottle Movie, and Black Comedy

I honestly love movies that end on a cliffhanger and leave the audience, picking up the pieces. In all fairness, the pieces are left like crumbs guiding the viewer into untouched territories. Sometimes it can be scary and mysterious but other times, engaging and amusing. While Sally Potter never fully dives into this storytelling methodology in her 2017 black comedy picture The Party, she uses it as a part of many storytelling facets that, combined, prove to be an effective way to explore human relationships. 

At its core, The Party is about a tragedy that is guided through comedy. While the humor might not be for everyone considering it is a tad satirical and sharp, it is used as a hinge for the characters to react to the tragedy that surrounds them. They hinge in such an unexpected way that the comedic element becomes the protagonist rather than the seriousness of the plot.

We meet Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas), in her kitchen getting ready for a party due to a career accomplishment. The guests start flowing into the house like hot lava pouring from a volcano. Each with their energy, principles, and beliefs. Especially Tom (Cillian Murphy), who after bursting in, struggles to keep it together and to cope with things, starts snorting what can only be the good stuff. We immediately come to understand that the events of this social affair are under a political climate somewhere in a cute British house. However, it’s fascinating how Potter challenges the political principles and alliances of each character by confining them within the house. Potter effectively uses the physical setting as another character in the story. The living room is the place of personal digs and attempts to strip each other with sharp and piercing lines. The kitchen is a place of heat, where things boil, and quite literally, burn. The opposite goes to the yard which is a place to cool off, to think, and talk things over. And the bathroom is the perfect place for privacy where things are hidden and done away from the eyes of others. The film so vividly exists in these spaces. 

Once everyone except one who should be at the gathering arrives, the celebrations are cut short by an unexpected announcement from Bill (Timothy Spall), Janet’s husband, which unfolds personal opinions, untold secrets, and hidden intentions between the guests. Here, praise has to be given to Potter’s writing because she greets us with a beginning sequence that also serves as the closing one. So we know what happens but how did we get there, remains a mystery. While not everything is fully fleshed out in a modest 71-minute running time, everything that needs to be accounted for in Potter’s perspective, is done with such a sophisticated touch. Aside from the comedic lines, she goes metaphysical and therapeutic with Gottfried (Bruno Ganz), emotional with Jinny (Emily Mortimer), and cynical and logical with April (the amazing Patricia Clarkson). It feels like you’re playing an adventure video game and you are picking your character. Through her writing, not only is her plot well-grounded but she explores subject matters of betrayal, friendship, humility, and love. In addition to the other cinematic techniques, Potter also uses an aesthetic monochromatic black and white which proves to be an effective way to direct the audience’s attention to the plot and characters rather than any background distractions. She doesn’t want us to get lost in the tiny details of the weather or house decorations, the nucleus of the film is within those confined rooms and hearts of its characters which is interesting as the film contains no special effects or crazy editing. It tries to be raw and it accomplishes it. It feels almost like a dramatic stage act. Furthermore, black and white, on a subconscious level, I believe makes the human eye function differently.

My favorite scene is when the men end up alone in the living room and Gottfried, immersed in his role as a healer, mediates a “therapy session” for the two conflicting men. All three are talking about the same situation but they are commedically trying to communicate completely different perspectives. The disconnect in communication is unmistakable yet, they are metaphorically connected through Potter’s superb writing, notable acting, and great camera angles.