Abigail's Party (1977)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Powerful

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Mike Leigh's jet black comedy of manners shouldn't be reviewed as a film; strictly speaking, it's a video document of his own stage play, performed as theater. The play itself is an often brilliant one-act satire, charting the total disintegration of an intimate cocktail party controlled by an aggressively bourgeois hostess (Alison Steadman) and her ineffective husband. The escalating tensions between each guest (one of them exiled from her daughter Abigail's punk rock party, heard but never seen offstage) suggest a clever parody of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?', blending acute social embarrassment with moments of absurd but often hilarious tragedy. Middle class envy and pretensions have rarely been savaged with such glee, and on a purely technical level it offers a fine example of how to film a play as a play, with the camera intruding only far enough onto the stage to capture every nuance of the performances.

This is one of the worst films I ever saw, I can only compare it to a trip the dentist out of Little Shop of Horrors, followed by a quick shower in American History X, and finished off with a party in the cabin from Evil Dead. In short this unique film did everything in it's power to try and make me kill myself. It was tempting to end the pain as soon as possible but the person making me watch it assured me it didn't last too much longer. It was a family member making me endure the true nightmare that is Abigail's Party, if not related I would have cut this person out of my life completely for assaulting should with such awful viewing. When drunk I once got locked in a boiler-room where I was hiding for 16 hours and I would do that every day for a year if someone could give me back the time I spent watching this film. In short avoid it people, however if you have been un-lucky enough to view this monstrosity then the government has set up group counselling sessions. these are very helpful and have stemmed the murderous rage I felt at first. You can find details about these groups from you nearest citizen's advice bureau.

Abigail's Party: 2/10. This is a poorly lit (especially first half) extremely stagy TV show (basically a filmed play.) Highly regarded by some critics but at close to two hours with 5 very unpleasant people it hardly ranks as entertainment. The main character Beverly reminds one of Peg from Married with Children but with no Al to provide the counter pointing laughs she remains strangely unchallenged throughout. In fact the description of Abigail's Party as a comedy is a bit of a puzzler as this is drama writ large. A true character exercise only a stage actor could love. While insightful into the desperation of some of the middle class of England, countless movies and shows have exposed middle class foibles with better results. Even a half hour sitcom like "Keeping Up Appearances" covers the same ground more completely and with many more laughs. Truth be told these people would be miserable no matter what class they were in and like a trapped guest I was looking to leave Abigail's Party as soon as I could.

Wow. Abigail's Party - and I am the first person to comment on it? This is certainly an interesting film. In parts it's riotously funny... I mean laugh-out-loud funny... the characters are all obnoxious (except perhaps Sue) with traits that'll make you thank the Lord that they are not your neighbours or friends. The tension just rises and rises through the film... you know it's building up to something big... by the end though it's damn depressing. You hate these characters, you want to shout at them! But the acting is brilliant. Alison Steadman's Beverly full of clichés and tartiness, with a voice that gives you the creeps. Tim Stern (Laurence), the hen-pecked husband, an uptight little weasel and an intellectual snob. Angela (Jane Duvitski), weak and ineffectual, annoying as hell, easily-led, yet comes through the whole thing with more strength than the others. John Salthouse as Tony is a magnificent character, you can feel his anger brewing underneath this quiet exterior. And then there's Susan, played by Harriet Reynolds, whose unseen daughter Abigail is the one having the party. Sue's the one who gets thrown in with all these misfits... poor thing. The setting is claustrophobic, the humour is full on, sometimes though it just gets a little too nasty for words, and leaves a rather bittersweet taste. Funny it may be but it's a bloody painful ride, and though it's looking seriously dated, it's still a fascinating piece of work.