Product Description

German writer-director Percy Adlon makes a "remarkable" (Boxoffice) American debut with his "charming" (Vogue) Bagdad Cafe starring Cch Pounder (Face/Off) and Jack Palance(City Slickers). Injecting his bold and unique style into a sweet story about the common threads that connect disparate people, Adlon succeeds in creating a cinematic jewel that is both "hilarious and touching" (Los Angeles Times). Drawn to a pair of lights in the barren American desert sky, a mysterious German woman, Jasmin, stumbles upon a dilapidated motel/diner in the middle of nowhere. Her unusual appearance and demeanor are at first suspicious to Brenda, the exasperated owner who has difficulty making ends meet. But when an unlikely magic sparks between the two women, this lonely desert outpost is transformed into a thrivingand popularoasis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29561 in DVD
• Brand: CRazy Bones
• Released on: 2001-07-24
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
Jasmin (Marianne Sägebrecht), a German tourist, has just walked off from her husband at the side of the road in the middle of the Mojave Desert; Brenda (CCH Pounder) has just kicked her husband out of the roadside cafe-motel they operate. When Jasmin arrives at the cafe, the two begin developing a prickly but ultimately rewarding friendship. Many other movies have tried to duplicate Bagdad Cafe's mixture of loose storytelling, off-kilter metaphors, and rich emotions, but most often these imitators leave out the random chaos of life and the awkward pain of change that Bagdad Cafe captures with such a gentle touch. Bagdad Cafe earns both its quirkiness and its sentiment by keeping one foot firmly rooted in reality. Director Percy Adlon teamed with star Sägebrecht in two other similarly offbeat movies, Sugarbaby and Rosalie Goes Shopping; his more recent features without her haven't been as successful. Still, he continues to be noted for his odd but lively use of color filters and jagged editing. Bagdad Cafe also features the great Jack Palance (Shane, Requiem for a Heavyweight, City Slickers) playing an easy-going painter; the opportunity to be an ordinary person, rather than his usual wicked fiends, brings out a delightful mischief in Palance. Pounder, who usually gets small supporting parts, deserves another role like this to take advantage of her remarkable range. All in all, an eccentric and wonderful film. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Endearing, atmospheric film
This is an offbeat, delightful film about the growth of affection and the overcoming of cultural barriers. The contrast of certain German (or perhaps more specifically, Bavarian) standards with American is a source of hilarity to the viewers that know both cultures, but everyone I've talked to agrees that the gradual rapprochement between all these quirky, essentially warmhearted characters is endearing. Yet it almost miraculously manages to avoid sentimentality and certainly avoids superficiality. The music of the soundtrack is also haunting. I would have given it 5 stars except that there is one scene with a musical number that seems unnecessary and drags down the flow of the story only at that point. But otherwise it's a thoroughly charming, atmospheric film that I absolutely love.

Bagdad Cafe a collectors classic
So enjoyed having added this classic to my collection of fantasy fables.
It was hard to find and I was surprised at the price. After such a long
search, it was worth it. I guess I have joined a "classics cult". Charming, offbeat and watchable over and over.

Strange but good
This movie was not one that I had ever heard of and I ordered it on a spur of the moment. I was not dissapointed.