Bagdad Cafe
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Movie Reviews of Bagdad Cafe
Movie Review: One of those rare gems that lurk unsung in the catalogues.
Summary: 5 Stars
A very German tourist tourist is abandoned by her travelling companion in the middle of the desert with just her luggage and a thermos of very strong coffee.She makes her way to the kind of roadside motel that seems to hover on the brink of self destruction ,peopled by an eclectic cast of characters of whom Jack Palance as an artist who brings our tourist out of herself and the foul-tempered owner played by CCH Pounder trying to cope with the failing business and her off the wall family are outstanding.As the tourist Marianne Sagebrecht is just sufficiently alien to force each person with whom she comes in contact to re evaluate their own sense of themselves as they try to understand her values.They even have trouble understanding her coffee. This is a movie about people living with people .It is warm,funny,understanding and generates that magic so rarely seen in current Hollywood offerings that gives one a real sense of loss when the credits roll.This review is based on a letterbox laser disc .Movie Review: Delightfully sweet, oddball film
Summary: 5 Stars
A wonderful, funny, odd, and unique film.
Strong acting all around (Jack Palance is amazing). Inventive use of
distorted colors and changing camera speeds. A few moments get a bit
precious, but generally one of the best uses I've seen of a slightly
surreal style to tell a very touching, human story - an overweight,
depressed Bavarian housewife is left stranded in the southwest desert
by her husband, and slowly finds herself, and a home among the odd
characters who live and work at the Bagdad Cafe.
This is a case where brave film-making enhances rather than distracts
from emotional involvement. The basic theme (we're all weird, and we
all need somewhere to fit in) is nothing new, but the approach here
makes it delightful and fresh.
Movie Review: Quirky classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Right from the start you know this something special. Odd camera angles and a couple in a U.S desert speaking German. The man leaves the woman and she walks until she finds a cafe run by a black lady at which she can stay. Thats basically the plot up to the opening credits - I've given absolutely nothing away.
How the film develops from there and the way the characters are interwoven is wonderful. All the actors and actresses give amazing performances including an ageing Jack Palance whose Mr Cox is a real oddball.
The film certainly wasn't a huge commercial success, but commercial success has nothing to with quality. Its difficult to make comparisons with other films because this is a one of a kind, but it has something for everybody. It shouldn't work - but it does!
Movie Review: Heartening, risk-taking, positive vision
Summary: 5 Stars
A recent second viewing only made the experience better. A wonderful movie, dreamlike, bravely acted, bravely written, both tense and comedic, with fabulous cinematography. This is one I could watch again and again. Why did it take a film company and director from Bavaria to create such a marvel from the eternal California-truck-stop-cafe theme? C.C.H. Pounder is brilliant --- my fear that she might overdo her character was unfounded --- a treat to watch her in all her moods. Jack Palance [of all people] was angelic, a wonderful light and loving role, gently done, utterly believable. The score and the theme song are charming. The director made the bleak desert and its highway enthralling by day and night. This is the off-highway cafe that we all wish we knew.Movie Review: This is one cool movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
I must admit I made a couple of false starts at watching this movie before I hung in long enough to get the payoff. The first forty minutes is about as interesting as watching grass grow, but is necessary to develop the story and set up the artistic climax (visually and metaphorically). I've watched it several times and think I enjoyed it more the second or third time, especially if watching with a friend. In simplest terms, for me this movie is a metaphor for, "Once you have found the magic, don't let it go." Its a little campy and probably not for everyone. It is especially cool if you have seen Huell Howser's "California gold" episode on Newberry Springs (the setting for Bagdad Cafe).