The Cabbage Soup (1981)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Highly Overrated But Still Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

There's a little magic in this film I'll have to add a little sentimental note here: This movie reminds me of good and bad childhood memories. The good being, that (like many Germans of my generation), I grew up with the Louis de Funes comedies so, yes, I was laughing very hard when I saw this film for the first time. The bad memories: a few days after having seen it first, I heard the de Funes had passed away and this may have been the only time in my life when I had tears rolling down my cheeks after hearing about the passing of an actor (this was before the time when everybody was racing to put a random, make-myself-feel-better "RIP" on Facebook, whenever a celebrity kicks the bucket).In many ways, his second-to-last film was one of the most unusual de-Funes-Films. For one, the viewer can intrinsically tell, that De Funes was a very sick man; somebody who's at the end of his road, yet still summoning up his strength to give us the usual over-the-top, hyper-ventilating performance for which he was known and loved. Despite this being a "typical" de-Funes-Film, there are very strong, melancholic moments (especially those involving farmer Claude and his resurrected wife Franchine or the when Claude is reminiscing about past days), which was very rare for the typical de-Funes-film. What was also very atypical was the electro-sound-music that at times reminds of Jean-Michel Jarre. Some people have complained that the soundtrack wasn't fitting. Matter of personal taste really, but I dare you to look up the title-song on YouTube and not have the tune, be it the original or one of the many covers, stuck in the back of your head for a long time to come.In essence, all slapstick and de Funes hyper-conundrum aside, it is a movie about people longing for simpler, "down to earth" (paradoxically) times, when you could still enjoy the starlit, countryside-sky with a friend, getting drunk on wine and Pastis (and, yes, not to mention the fart-tournaments between de Funes and Carmet, which goes beyond the contemporary "laugh because somebody farted"-joke). One of the films highlights is the scene where de Funes introduces his alien friend into the "art" of eating his homemade cabbage soup – watch it and tell me honestly to the face that it doesn't make you long for a bowl and a piece of bread, whether you like cabbage or not. Is this movie vulgar? Sure thing it is. Dishonest? Quiet the opposite. Makes one almost feel a little guilty writing this over the internet. Sure, those times aren't coming back, but that's what movies are for, no? One can honestly say: they don't make films like this anymore. I tend to ignore the last De-Funes-film ("Le gendarme et les gendarmettes"), thinking of "La Soup aux choux" as the final farewell from this master-comedian, as if to say: hey, no matter how tough things get, face them with a mischievous grin; what comes will come, but it will come more smoothly with a glass of Pastis and a bowl of home-made cabbage soup.Mind you: this is by no means an objective review but I personally give it 9 out of 10.

This comedy is a lot different from most other de Funès comedies in that it's very straightforward, there are few misunderstandings or complications, there's little of the choleric de Funès we know. Instead, at the heart of this film, there are two dotards leading their simple day-to-day lives and eating cabbage soup while waiting for their demise. Their quiet life is only endangered by the expanding city in the background.When they unintentionally catch the attention of a cabbage-hungry alien, excitement ensues, friendships get adjusted, and of course there's a happy "ending". What makes this very simple story so fun to watch are the three main actors, they're so adorable you could watch them an hour longer without ever getting bored I think.

one of the greatest movies of the greatest comedian. I have never laughed more, than in " Luis und seine verrückten Kohlenköpfe"! Unfortunately de Funes died do early to had the chance to see his movies in the cinemas (I was to young). But he is in my memory. Thank you for a lot of great movies!

Everything has been gathered in order to produce The French Movie of the Century : the best actors around (some of them even famous outside France), a great scenario written by a team of highly-skilled professionals (one of them, Jean de la Bine-Boilue, died last year and we will always keep high the flame of his memory), more than one hundred technicians, among the best ones available at that time, two SFX studios used for the UFO scene ... the list would be too long. But, maybe due to a lack of will, the project finally ended into a kind of common movie, airlines-designed film. We all know that this movie had a critical influence on famous directors like Roland Emmerich, the same way "The seven Samurai" influenced G. Lucas, but, with a kind of regret in mind, we have to think what a wonderful movie it would have been if all the people involved in the project would have done their best.