Willem Dafoe Plays a Wealthy Greek Man in ‘The Birthday Party’ Trailer

“You’re cordially invited to the party of the year.” Heretic has revealed a festival promo trailer for the film titled The Birthday Party, directed by Spanish filmmaker Miguel Ángel Jiménez (of Seagull, The Night Watchman, Window to the Sea). This just premiered at the Locarno Film Festival last month and is looking for distribution still – hence this trailer to drum up more interest. Willem Dafoe stars as Marcos Timoleon, a wealthy Greek businessman, who’s hosting his daughter’s 25th birthday party on his own island. Unforeseen events unfold, jeopardizing his power and challenging his entire life’s foundations. It’s set in the late 1970s, somewhere in the Mediterranean, where Marcos Timoleon, an Aristotle Onassis-like tycoon, is throwing a lavish, extravagant birthday for his daughter and sole heiress. The filmmaker explains: “The Birthday Party is a film about power, legacy, love mistaken for possession, and the quiet violence within privilege – set on a paradise island that slowly reveals itself as a prison.” Along with Dafoe, this stars Vic Carmen Sonne, Joe Cole, Emma Suárez, Christos Stergioglou, Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos, and Elsa Lekakou. This looks like a rather strange film, a bit too experimental in its attempts to tell this story about this crazy rich dude. // Continue Reading ›