An offbeat study of mis-matched characters who find paradise off the beaten track at the Bagdad Cafe. It's just a greasy spoon and a rusty fuel pump, but for Jasmin, an odd customer with suspicious cleaning habits, and Brenda, the cafe's loud, sloppy and overworked owner, it's a lot more than a rest stop. Read more
| Starring | Marianne Sagebrecht, C.C.H. Pounder, Jack Palance, Monica Calhoun |
|---|---|
| Director | Percy Adlon |
| Genres | Comedy |
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An offbeat study of mis-matched characters who find paradise off the beaten track at the Bagdad Cafe. It's just a greasy spoon and a rusty fuel pump, but for Jasmin, an odd customer with suspicious cleaning habits, and Brenda, the cafe's loud, sloppy and overworked owner, it's a lot more than a rest stop.
| Starring | Marianne Sagebrecht, C.C.H. Pounder, Jack Palance, Monica Calhoun |
|---|---|
| Director | Percy Adlon |
| Studio | ARROW FILMS |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 27 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 22 Apr 2002 Production year: 1988 |
| Format | DVD |
Co-written and co-produced with his wife Eleanore and starring his regular favourite Marianne Sägebrecht, German director Percy Adlon's first American feature is a hypnotic blend of feminist fantasy and Capra-esque feel-good. Set in a run-down diner in the middle of the Arizona desert, the action centres on the impact Sägebrecht has on the claustrophobic local community, in particular on café boss CCH Pounder and an ageing hippy artist, played with an instinctive comic touch by the undervalued Jack Palance. Although there are some shrewd asides on racial friction, this is still the kind of gentle comedy you can simply sink into your armchair and enjoy.
A radiant, oddball comedy-drama about the relationship that develops between a fat Bavarian tourist (Sägebrecht), an... read more on Time Out
Jasmin,leaves her husband in the middle of the Mojave Desert with only a suitcase and walks to the Bagdad Cafe. Mix a plump Bavarian woman wound tighter than a drum with an American family living at the edge of despair, a lot of dirt and the heat of the desert and you get quite a nifty little movie. If you like them original and quirky this one's for you.
Unfortunately this 87m version of BC loses the complete thread of the original 118m film.
For reasons that are beyond me the scenes that make this film complete and understandable are missing. The penultimate Cabaret, German style, scene which finally explains the charm, attraction and the gentleness of the film is missing! Shame, because without it the film seems to have no point.
Also the subtitled translations are at best awful. My advice is to only view the full version in German.