La Grande Bouffe (1973)

Very Cool!!!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A group of men hire some prostitutes and go to a villa in the countryside. There, they engage in group sex and resolve to eat themselves to death.The film was somewhat controversial upon its original release with its scatological humor and comic depictions of sex and over-eating. This seems like something you might expect from Bunuel, mixed in a bit with "120 Days of Sodom" (or "Salo"). Not as gross, of course, but it seems to come from the same sort of feeling.I have no idea what was going on in France / Italy in the 1970s to make such strange films. I understand Bunuel's criticism of the bourgeoisie, as he had more or less always had a left-leaning streak of satire in him that came to the forefront later on. But here? If it is satire, it is much more obscure.

What can be a better protest against hedonism than to kill oneself in the most hedonistic way: to sate oneself with food and luxury and sex to death? So four old friends gather together in the luxuriant family villa belonging to the one of the participants and start devouring their way to exotic quietus, I should warn you though, the spectacle isn't for the hungry, and however difficult the task may seem it turns out to be quite feasible. What is the most great in this movie is its thick atmosphere of absurdity and surreality of everything happening on the screen and at the same time a verisimilitude of this occurrence. This movie also brilliantly managed to catch a zeitgeist of its epoch. At the time the film was announced to be a scandal of the year.

It's not the purpose of death using the pleasures of food and sex as the ultimate sin. It's the cynicism used against the great value of life, the spirit. These 4 people and the women involved are figures, most respected in our society. From captains to judges, to teachers and dancers, all these people seem to turn exclusively to flesh, ignoring the values of the mind and thought, as it were completely unimportant!Are they right, or wrong? They don't care, nor the audience. What it matters the most is the way it's done rather the cause of it. The food and sex, both represent the ultimate good in life, the birth and as it is used to provoke death, seems to become a great innovative aspect of sin which rarely has been used elsewhere (also represented in a Greek film called "tempelides of Eforis koiladas")Finally if we must wonder ourselves the reasons this suicide is meant to be committed, we must first answer to our own reasons for living! Why are continue supporting a social system which is based in violent survival hunting? Why we categorise life as ethical and unethical and most important why every action we take is good or evil?Death as life are so pointless, equally to mind and flesh. There's nothing left to remember, apart the joys of the present...

Marco Ferreri is one of my all time favourite directors, for both his fearlessness in pushing boundaries and his piercing originality. Ferreri's greatest achievement was making relentlessly intellectual films that also managed to entertain. While many other European directors could get caught up in their own genius, Marco Ferreri was never pretentious enough to forget about his audience.La Grande Bouffe is one of Ferreri's best and most notorious films. The premise is infamous, four friends gather at a country mansion with the intention of literally eating themselves to death. When this becomes tiresome they hire three prostitutes and invite the local school teacher to join them. This is not a film that follows a linear narrative, instead it expertly crafts a sense of atmosphere from a series of acutely observed vignettes. There are enough unforgettable images and surreal happenings in this film to make Salvador Dali green with envy. The meat garden, Andrea and Michel's flatulent love making and Philippe's relationship with his nanny are just three that come to mind. There is genius at work here, this is not an exercise in empty symbolism but a disturbing slice of modern life.The impact of La Grande Bouffe has not wearied with age. The sex scenes are possibly less confronting (although Marcello's inventive use of a champagne bottle still raises eyebrows) but the film's psychological impact has not been dulled. The characters' ruthless pursuit of death is all the more disturbing given their unadulterated appreciation for life's pleasures. For a film with such disturbing content, La Grande Bouffe is also effortlessly entertaining. Ferreri somehow manages to balance the building tension with black humour, raunchy sex scenes and even budding romance.This is probably a good time to mention the cast. Ferreri has gathered together a who's who of European cinema. Ferreri regulars like Mastroianni and Tognazzi combine brilliantly with French heavyweights like Piccoli and Noiret. Andrea Ferreol more than matches it with these acting giants. She deserves significant credit for her illuminating performance as the open minded school teacher with the appetite of a blue whale.La Grande Bouffe is intelligent, disturbing and unrelenting. Most importantly, it is also entirely non-judgemental. Ferreri would never insult his audience by suggesting to them what they should think. If only more modern directors had taken note.