A Private Function
Release date: 1984-11-09
Votes: 63
Genres: Comedy
In the summer of 1947, Britain prepares to commemorate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. To get around food-rationing laws, Dr. Charles Swaby, accountant Henry Allardyce and solicitor Frank Lockwood are fattening a black-market pig for the big day. Egged on by his wife, meek Gilbert Chilvers steals the swine, but the couple must conceal it from inspector Morris Wormold.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
The forthcoming wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip is a cause for celebration in post war Britain, but it isn’t going to affect rationing that still only allows one person one rasher of bacon per week. The folks of a small Yorkshire town have their own cunning plan. Secreted in the middle of the woods, they have a pig. Despite the best efforts of the ferret-like detective “Wormold” (Bill Paterson), they are fattening it up with whatever they can find - including some ingredients that we’d sooner not have known about, ready for the big day. Unbeknownst to them, though, local chiropodist “Chilvers” (Michael Palin) gets wind of this and decides that seeing as most of the town’s grandees don’t like him very much, he is going to appropriate said beast for his wife (Maggie Smith) and her mother (Liz Smith). As you might expect from any partnership between Smith and Palin, one is a stronger, non-nonsense personality and the other maybe just a bit timid, so what chance the latter would ever know what to do with a live pig roaming around - however hungry they might be? Writer Alan Bennett would have lived through this national event and so we can assume some youthfully inspired and informed commentary as this story plays out and he peppers it with his usual brand of Northern (English) wit. Richard Griffiths and Denholm Elliott both add characterful richness to the proceedings as the daft plot successfully and entertainingly exaggerates the snobbishness of a community where nobody really has very much, but where status is still king and two turkeys isn’t going to feed the whole village!
Movie Recommendation
The Summit of the Gods2021-09-22A photojournalist's obsessive quest for the truth about the first expedition to Mt. Everest leads him to search for an esteemed climber who went missing.More...
The Glimmer Man1996-10-04A former government operative renowned for his stealth, Jack Cole is now a Los Angeles police detective. When a series of horrible murders occurs in the metro area, Cole is assigned to the case, along with tough-talking fellow cop Jim Campbell. Although the two men clash, they gradually become effective partners as they uncover a conspiracy linked to the killings, which also involves terrorism and organized crime.More...
Spielberg2017-10-05A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.More...
High and Dizzy1920-07-11A tipsy doctor encounters his patient sleepwalking on a building ledge, high above the street.More...
Teen Wolf1985-08-23When a shy teenager's new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.More...
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit1993-12-09Deloris Van Cartier is again asked to don the nun's habit to help a run-down Catholic school, presided over by Mother Superior. And if trying to reach out to a class full of uninterested students wasn't bad enough, the sisters discover that the school is due to be closed by the unscrupulous chief of a local authority.More...
Robot Dreams2023-12-06A lonely dog's friendship with his robot companion takes a sad turn when an unexpected malfunction forces him to abandon Robot at the beach. Will Dog ever meet Robot again?More...
Beating Hearts2024-10-16Local rebellious teenager Clotaire falls for his schoolmate Jackie, but gang violence leads him to a darker destructive path. After years apart, the star-crossed lovers discover that every path they've taken leads them back together.More...
The Platform2019-11-08A slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.More...
Anora2024-10-14A young sex worker from Brooklyn gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as his parents set out to get the marriage annulled.More...
Oppenheimer2023-07-19The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.More...
Joker2019-10-01During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.More...
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)2020-02-05Harley Quinn joins forces with a singer, an assassin and a police detective to help a young girl who had a hit placed on her after she stole a rare diamond from a crime lord.More...
Zack Snyder's Justice League2021-03-18Determined to ensure Superman's ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.More...
All Quiet on the Western Front2022-10-07Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.More...
Ex Machina2015-01-21Caleb, a coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.More...
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood2019-07-24Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…More...
PK2014-12-18A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.More...
Titanic1997-11-18101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.More...
Tenet2020-08-22Armed with only one word - Tenet - and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.More...
Similar Movies
Beast with a Budget
2019-10-31A documentary crew follows the exploits of an up and coming indie filmmaker as he attempts to win an Oscar with his second feature film, leading to all sorts of wacky hi-jinks with his oddball cast and crew.D.E.B.S.
2005-03-25The star of a team of teenage crime fighters falls for the alluring villainess she must bring to justice.Life of Brian
1979-08-17Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python's signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian's life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.A Fish Called Wanda
1988-07-15While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.Undskyld vi er her
1980-12-26A farce about cousins Aage and Viggo, whom Aage's girlfriend Else no longer wants living with them. The cousins then become embroiled in a rebellion against their workplace, Multi-Max, and against society in general, with chaotic consequences.Borat: Cultural Learn...
2006-11-01Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture.Wallace & Gromit: The...
2005-09-15Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal, Gromit, investigate a mystery in Nick Park's animated adventure, in which the lovable inventor and his intrepid pup run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods that turn their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.Wellbeing Assessment
2025-01-26Young employee Devon meets with his superior Jack for a company mandated Wellbeing Assessment.Mumbo Jumbo
2005-07-07In a misguided attempt to do something for the war on terror, self-styled suburban warriors Gool, Rube and Simmo are ready to carry out their first operation, but things don't go quite as they planned.Scusa, Ma Ho Votato B...
2013-02-22God might forgive you. He... no.Phil Gunderson Teache...
2022-09-28When faced with the crushing realization that he is a hack, a successful and cocky screenwriter must stumble his way through filming a MasterClass without ruining his reputation.Brazil
1985-02-20Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.Billy Elliot
2000-09-28County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.Snatch
2000-09-01Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookies, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.Loves of a Zombie
2010-10-22Zombie escapes from prison and says in TV that he's in love with a woman, becoming very popular in Haiti. Politicians decide to support his candidature for president.Contacts... Conflicts...
1984-12-01A satirical film for adults about communication problems.Contacts... Conflicts...
1985-12-01Comic stories for adults about the problems of family life.Contacts... Conflicts...
1986-12-01Comic stories for adults about the problems of family life.Contacts... Conflicts...
1987-12-01Comic stories for adults about the problems of family life.Me and the Big Guy
1999-01-01In a totalitarian society Big Brother watches everyone. That means he also must see Citizen 43275-B all the time. How unlucky.