Word: functioned
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...north of Beirut. The commander of the Lebanese Forces, Fuad Abu Nader, 28, promptly removed Geagea from his post. Geagea's ouster, supported by Syria, quickly stirred dissension within the Lebanese Forces. Abu Nader tried to end the rift by announcing that in the future the Lebanese Forces would function independently of the Phalange Party, but his move came too late. Geagea's militiamen had already seized several Lebanese Forces barracks and at week's end controlled Christian East Beirut and much of the territory to the north of the capital...
...HAVE TO ADMIRE the British: when they make a movie featuring a potentially cute, domesticated animal, they don't flinch at decapitating it and serving it up on a platter. A Private Function, touted as the resurrection of classic English comedy, is not for those who feel squeamish at the thought of a diarrhetic pig in their living room. Like a London bag lady who still bothers to curtsy, though, this film carries itself with a reserved sense of class, quite above movies like Bachelon Party or Porky's. Clearly the cardinal sin for British funnymen...
Basically a "Revenge Of The Rarified Nerds," Function is a tale of social scatology. The hero, Gilbert Chilvers (Michael Palin of Monty Python fame), is a man shat upon. His story is a struggle for status, which in the throes of postwar means meat All the town aristocrats are dining on veal and steak while poor Gilbert meekly spoons Spam from...
...this all sounds like pretty horrible stuff out of which to make a light comedy, but Function is--if anything--too tame. Like all British comedy, the pace of this film seems as thick and trudging as cold plum pudding. Bennett spends the first half hour erecting the framework of setting and plot within which his characters work An American used to getting his hamour in rapid-fire bursts can find this very tedious indeed...
Admittedly, A Private Function does not reveal anything new and different about the English aristocracy. The film is different because it immerses the viewer in the bowels of society so suitably that he does not feel unclean himself. Bennett's low-key attitude keeps the film from rising above the level of an average Monty Python episode, but when compared with lawdry American attempts like wild Life and Arenging Angel, A Private Function almost deserves its royal welcome...