La Grande Bouffe
| La Grande Abbuffata | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Marco Ferreri |
| Produced by |
Vincent Malle Jean-Pierre Rassam |
| Written by |
Marco Ferreri Rafael Azcona |
| Starring |
Marcello Mastroianni Ugo Tognazzi Michel Piccoli Philippe Noiret |
| Music by | Philippe Sarde |
| Cinematography | Mario Vulpiani |
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Release date
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Running time
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135 minutes 123 minutes (censored cut) |
| Country | Italy / France |
| Language | Italian / French |
La Grande Bouffe (Italian: La grande abbuffata, English: The Grande Bouffe and Blow-Out) is a 1973 French–Italian film directed by Marco Ferreri. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Andréa Ferréol.
The film tells the story of four friends who gather in a villa for the weekend with the express purpose of eating themselves to death. Bouffer is French slang for "eating" (the Italian abbuffata means "great eating").
The first protagonist, Ugo, owner and chef of a restaurant, "The Biscuit Soup", decides to commit suicide, probably because of misunderstandings with his wife. The second is Philippe, a somewhat important magistrate who still lives with his childhood nanny, Nicole, who is overprotective of him to the point of trying to prevent him from having relationships with other women, and who fulfills her own sexual needs with the judge. The third character is Marcello, an Alitalia pilot and womaniser, who is devastated by the fact that he has become impotent. In the first scenes in which he appears, he is intent on making one of his air-hostesses carry off the plane an entire Parmigiano for the villa where he will meet up with the other three protagonists. The fourth and final main character is Michel, who is an effeminate television producer, divorced and tired of his monotonous life. The four come together by car to the beautifully furnished but unused villa owned by Philippe. There they find the old caretaker, Hector, who has innocently prepared everything for the great feast, and a Chinese visitor who is there to offer a job to the magistrate in faraway China, which Philippe politely rejects with the phrase "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes", quoting Virgil.
Once alone, the four begin their binge. In one scene Marcello and Ugo race each other to see who can eat oysters faster. They discuss organizing a little "feminine presence" and decide to invite three prostitutes (not four because Philippe does not want to participate) to come to the house the following evening. Their breakfast next day is interrupted by the arrival of a school class who would like to visit the garden of the villa to see the famous "lime-tree of Boileau", a tree under which the French poet used to sit while looking for inspiration. The four willingly invite the class not only into the garden but also to view the old Bugatti in the garage and to a magnificent lunch in the kitchen. Above all, they get to know Andrea, the young and buxom teacher, whom they spontaneously invite to dinner that evening. Philippe is dismayed at the notion of the school teacher being in the same company as three prostitutes; he warns her but she appears not to be perturbed. The prostitutes arrive in due course and the atmosphere becomes frivolous and sexually charged. Andrea arrives and embraces the spirit of the party. She is attracted to Philippe, who proposes to marry her.
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Wikipedia