''A Private Function'' is a 1984 British

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

and

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

. The film was predominantly filmed in

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

and Ben Rhydding in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. The film was also screened in the section of

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

Synopsis

In a small town in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

in 1947, the citizens endure continuing food rationing. Some local businessmen want to hold a party to celebrate the royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip and illegally decide to raise a

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

for that occasion. However, the pig is stolen by Gilbert Chilvers, who was encouraged to do so by his wife Joyce. Meanwhile, the local food inspector is determined to stop activities circumventing the food rationing.

Cast

Production

Three pigs were used in the filming of ''A Private Function'' which were all named Betty. Producer Mark Shivas was advised by Intellectual Animals UK that the pigs used should be female and six months old so as to not be too large or aggressive. However, the pigs were "unpredictable and often quite dangerous". During filming of one of the kitchen scenes, Maggie Smith was hemmed in by one of the pigs and needed to vault over the back of it in order to escape.

Release

The film had a Royal charity premiere on 21 November 1984 before being screened at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

on 22 November and opening at the Odeon Haymarket in London on 30 November.

Reception

For Michael Brooke at BFI Screenonline, the film is possibly "the closest that 1980s British cinema came to recapturing the spirit of the great Ealing comedies". He noted "something

Kafkaesque Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

about this" film (Bennett wrote his play '' Kafka's Dick'' shortly after). He commended the "uniformly superb" cast but concluded that "the real star is Bennett's script, bristling with funny, poignant one-liners ..and absurd yet strangely convincing situations". On '' Sneak Previews'' in 1985, both

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the movie two thumbs up. They called it one "really funny movie" and one "flat out winner." Siskel said it "had perfectly believable characters" and Ebert said "just beneath this veneer of respectability is utter madness."

Box office

The film made £1,560,000 in the UK.

Awards

The film won three

BAFTA Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

: Best Actress for Maggie Smith, Best Supporting Actress for Liz Smith, and Best Supporting Actor for Denholm Elliott. It was also nominated for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

(

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

) and Best Film.

Musical adaptation

A musical based on the film opened in the West End in April 2011 under the new title '' Betty Blue Eyes''. It was produced by

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...

and ran for several months at the

Novello Theatre The Novello Theatre is a West End theatre on Aldwych, in the City of Westminster. It was known as the Strand Theatre between 1913 and 2005. History The theatre was built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre on either side of The Waldo ...

. It starred Reece Shearsmith as Gilbert and Sarah Lancashire as Joyce.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Private Function, A 1984 films 1984 comedy films British comedy films Films directed by Malcolm Mowbray Films scored by John Du Prez Films with screenplays by Alan Bennett Films set in 1947 Films set in England HandMade Films films British independent films 1984 directorial debut films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films