Alan Bates did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Andrew Shaw in In Celebration.
In Celebration is a more than fine entry into the ennui-filled-reunion genre this time about a group of brothers coming home to celebrate their parent's 40th wedding anniversary.
Alan Bates plays the character quite needed for any such film in this particular genre. The man who intends to prod and pry at the ceremony, needed to create the conflict. Bates's performance is interesting in that there is almost a self-awareness of this he brings within the character. His whole physical manner has this certain excessive ease of a man rejecting the formality of a reunion from the outset. This idea could seem forced however this approach is essential in creating the nature of Andrew as a character. Bates appears first in the film as he hitches a ride with the youngest living brother, Colin (James Bolam), and makes a statement of self-deprecation proclaiming "he is a tramp" to which Colin reacts with what is essentially a knowing bit of exasperation. This is as something Colin has seen before, and Bates embodies a man who definitely is not happy with life. Bates though doesn't make this an overt depression with his portrayal of Andrew but rather as this rejection of normalcy. Bates captures in the very behavior this purposeful, though also honest in its own way, manner of a man who just won't be quite proper. Bates finds this fine line within this as he establishes from the outset that Andrew isn't quite an exhibitionist with his behavior, but he's not too far off.
Brian Cox did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Steven Shaw in In Celebration.
The very talented Brian Cox has had a long successful career, though he has a manged to do this, honestly to do this day, with a rather low profile. Why this is exactly, somewhat alludes me as his talent is ever present, however it perhaps caused by the way he is often in good films somehow forgotten by time. A much younger Cox has a rather challenging role here as that of almost what one might describe as the "other brother". His Steven is the brother who lives nearest to his parent's old home, and makes his career as a teacher, and as a not at all successful writer. Cox's Steven actually arrives first to the family home, and Cox's performance establishes a man who is nearly the polar opposite of Andrew. Cox keeps his externalized expressions particularly subdued, and speaks in rather unconfrontational tones. Cox establishes Steven as a man who in no way wishes to make a spectacle of himself, unlike Andrew, though this does not mean he isn't as well troubled. Cox's whole demeanor though stands in sharp and effective contrast as the passive brother who treats this reunion less as something that requires an "attack" but rather is an earnest responsibility of a dutiful son.
Bill Owen did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Mr. Shaw in In Celebration.
Bill Owen plays the role of the patriarch of the Shaw family, who is one half the titular celebration. The celebration being for his forty years of marriage while also nearing another milestone of nearly 50 years of being a coal miner with only one year left before his retirement. Owen's performance is wonderful in how he distinctly crafts it separately from the work of Cox and Bates. In that there is not a hint of dishonesty in his Mr. Shaw although technically speaking he too isn't quite as he seems. Owen though rather is wholly genuine in his presentation of the man as he greets each of his sons as he arrives at his home. This is with a most earnest smile, and true warmth as greets every one of them. Owen skewers a basic sentiment within the part at the same time though. It isn't though with a hidden motivation that defines the man, but rather presents a more straight forward nature of the man. A man who has worked quite literally within the earth, and this revealed in his way towards life and family. Mr. Shaw too isn't all that he seems from a first look, however in a very different way from how Bates and Cox present his two sons.
Each character does have more to say with every greeting as we hear the conversations before and after the celebration, we never witness the celebration itself. These conversations dig up the truths of the family's past, which sadly is not a simple one. Each actor is terrific though in realizing how each man broaches this material. Bates one might say is the simplest, though also requires the most bravado on his part. Bates again physically embodies the role playing nearly as a drunkard who just won't bare formalities fully. This naturally paints the man as we learn he went from being a lawyer to a wannabe artist, and Bates conveys this decision with this manner. This is opposed to Cox who is so wonderfully quiet in the part, and his role is largely reactionary. His reactions though are what reveal every truth of the character, and the reserve he finds in the role is marvelous. Owen though makes the most honest man of them all though, even with the secrets, of course these secrets are not something he hides, but rather something he wears. Owen bears them as just pains of life deep within his eyes, but never an overt constant, though certainly still a constant. Owen shows a man who has had a harder life than his sons who doesn't dwell, but also can't forget.
Each performer layers the men so well in part in the interaction with who they are playing against. Bates again is the most obvious in this approach, such as when he first greets his mother with a bright face, and eager hello. Bates finds this proper combination of a honesty in his warmth, but also something bent within it. There's a troubling thing of any moment of eagerness in Bates, as goes a bit big, though I write this with praise rather than criticism. Bates lays the act on thickly too thickly that it is less an act, but rather a desperate need in a way. Bates plays it with venom, but not entirely so. Not a single moment is that of a true callousness as in his eyes there is always a certain sense of the family dynamic, that isn't defined by hate. There is also rather just the intensity of the emotion, even as he so often jokes around, that portrays a man nearly made grotesque in his attempt to laugh through the past and his current predicament. Bates makes the dishonesty part of the act of a man who must put on the facade of a false excitement, but it is never that simple. Bates shows instead a man still struggling with all himself, and this "performance" of Andrew's is his coping method.
Cox may deliver the most poignant performance in the capturing something very unique onscreen, and something that feels painfully honest. This is of course in such a low key approach though of the man who watches, and observes. Cox's work though is never of just the observer though as he's still part of this family. Cox makes so real the man's way of dealing with such a reunion which is through his own distant way. Again distant in not a cold way, which is what I love what he does here. He looks, and he smiles at his mother and father. When he does this it is wholly with love that small little smirk of his. His also will often feature that warmth of a loving son. That is not all he conveys though as even dealing with the confrontational Andrew Cox delivers the quiet disappointed stare from Steven that say more than a hundred words of hatred could. Cox in his reactions brings the weight of the family and his own hardship. There is a sadness in them, a sadness that only fully reveals itself in moments of complete solemnity so naturally realizing Steven as a man who lives in his troubles only at the most private point, which also keeps him as such an understated figure within his own family.
Back to Owen though who plays a man who really wouldn't know how to create a facade or to only observe. Owen shows a man who made by his difficult experiences but of course never destroyed by them. Owen delivers a real exuberance in his attitude towards life in moments, and showing his love at the right moments. There are darts of darkness, his own secret depression, but the key is that Owen doesn't play this as something he is hiding deep within. It is rather just part of who he is but never does define Mr. Shaw. He wears as a texture more than anything in his performance that will in a moment just linger a little more, or turn a certain line in his delivery that paints some old anxieties or troubles. This troubles such as the death of one of his sons, and the nature of his wife that came from a higher class family than his own. Owen's work is great by making essentially this flow of emotion of a man who has no real wish to dwell on the past, but the past still dwells with in him. Owen in the moment brings the most profound moments of truth, and the most vulnerable moments. This as also the briefest moments though in his work, in just a quick flash of anger, or heartbreak, that never change the man, but are always part of him.
Of course the real drama comes in the mix of these personalities coming together, particularly when the main conflicts of the death of their brother, and the realization that their mother purposefully raised her sons with a certain shame for their father's way of life and a requirement to live within a certain tradition. It is a fantastic scene for all three when this comes to a head by just wholly each grasps their parts, and how the emotion so genuine in all three of them, as well as from Bolam as Colin the most straight forward brother in terms of the presentation of his emotions. Bates makes Andrew a proper mess of a man as any facade of the "showman" hiding his real nature comes out in a more direct hatred towards the ways of his mother. There is only the hints of his phony cheeriness now revealing a man practically writhing in pain. This is against Cox and Owen who are both heartbreaking as two men directly relating to what Andrew is saying. Owen and Cox's reaction is that of a quiet yet devastated resignation in Steven and Mr. Shaw to what life they've had, as Andrew pours salt in the wound. I especially love the power of Owen's work as his is of man fighting hard not to give into this pain, as his eye lids seem to nearly deflect Andrew bringing the worst out into the open. Each in the film's end though shows almost the healthier state of Steven and Mr. Shaw in their way of embracing their existence against Andrew's way of attacking it. As we see Owen and Cox create such tender exchange in their parting of a father and son finding a true comfort, against Andrew once again returning to his ugly "playacting" as the sons depart. Bates, Cox and Owen each deliver a wonderful performance that so vividly depicts each man both in terms of their current state, their past, and how that defines who they are.
