Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

La Grande Bouffe Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 6, 2015

Winner of FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Marco Ferreri's "La Grande Bouffe" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include archival episodes of the French television programs Pour le cinema and Morceaux de bravoure; filmed introduction and selected scene commentary by film scholar Pasquale Iannone; and more. The release also arrives with a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Johnny Mains, illustrated with original archive stills and posters. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A/B "locked".

They are four friends and their plan is to eat themselves to death. They have agreed to do it in a large but secluded house on the outskirts of Paris where no one would bother them.

Fresh meat and vegetables are promptly delivered to the house and distributed in the kitchen. Then Ugo (Ugo Tognazzi, La Cage aux Folles), who is a chef and can prepare some truly spectacular dishes, rolls up his sleeves. Michel (Michel Piccoli, Belle de jour), Philippe (Philippe Noiret, Cinema Paradiso) and Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni, La Dolce Vita) try to help as best as they can.

After the initial round of delicacies Philippe invites Andrea (Andréa Ferréol, The Tin Drum), a teacher, to join them, while Marcello brings in a few prostitutes. The women cannot comprehend the men’s behavior, but do not question it. Their sophisticated manners and witty exchanges fascinate them.

As more food is served and the bodies of the four friends begin to struggle with it, the women start to question the sanity of their hosts. The prostitutes decide to leave, but Andrea chooses to stay with the sick men -- until they slowly die amidst piles of food and feces.

The film is disturbing but at the same time hugely entertaining. It was intended to be a slap in the face of Western elitism and the views it promoted. It probably does not look as offensive now as it did in the early '70s, but it remains in a league of its own.

It goes very far -- the sequence in which the sick Michel collapses on the balcony is about as repulsive as it can be -- but it pushes all the right buttons along the way to make one think about the masks people choose to wear and their willingness to excuse the inexcusable. Then it frames the power that corrupts as the fundamental flaw of the value system the Western world has embraced, because apparently the higher up the social ladder one finds oneself, the easier it is to produce some sort of 'rational' excuse for one’s hypocritical and abusive words and actions. (Pay close attention to the exchanges between the four friends because they satirize plenty of the excuses).

The women in the film are used as a litmus test to argue another interesting point. Initially, the teacher appears rational and principled, while the prostitutes are introduced as mindless puppets willing to engage in various irrational acts. But the prostitutes leave long before things get really ugly, while the supposedly rational teacher stays and allows the men to treat her like an exotic sexual object. The message is clear: The sickness that corrupts the mind can strike anyone that comes in contact with the elitists.

The overwhelming majority of Italian master Marco Ferreri’s films are similar in spirit to La Grande Bouffe (The Big Feast). They see the world we live in from a very unique angle and mercilessly satirize the human weaknesses that define us. But they are also very colorful films with a distinctive sense of humor. It takes some time to get used to it, but once placed in the proper context, its brilliance is impossible not to admire.

Ferreri shot La Grande Bouffe entirely in French with cinematographer Mario Vulpiani. The two also collaborated on the equally witty The Bitch and Dillinger Is Dead.

The playful jazzy score was created by the great French composer Philippe Sarde (Roman Polanski’s Tess, Claude Sautet’s The Things of Life).

La Grande Bouffe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Marco Ferreri's La Grande Bouffe arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video.

The release is sourced from a new 2K restoration that has given the film a new life. Indeed, depth and especially clarity are drastically improved and as a result there is a lot more to see now. Some of the most important improvements are in the area of shadow definition. I have two DVD releases of this film, one from Koch Lorber and one from Nouveaux Pictures, and can categorically state that there is plenty of detail that is quite simply missing on them. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Colors are stable, natural, and very well balanced. From start to finish the film also looks spotless -- there are no debris, cuts, damage marks, or torn frames. Finally, image stability is terrific. All in all, I think that it is very easy to see that this is a fantastic upgrade of La Grande Bouffe that makes it extremely easy to appreciate the artistic vision of its creator. (Note: This is a Region A/B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A, Region-B, or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

La Grande Bouffe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Philippe Sarde's playful jazzy score benefits the most from the lossless treatment. Indeed, while the range of nuanced dynamic is rather limited, the improved clarity and stability make quite a difference. The dialog is clean, stable, and always very easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or distortions to report in our review.

La Grande Bouffe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Farcical Movie: Marco Ferreri - in this archival episode of the French television program Morceaux de bravoure, director Marco Ferreri the unique sense of humor that is present in many of his films, their ability to provoke and scandalize, the different directors that inspired him during the years (Luis Bunuel, Tod Browning), some of the key themes in La Grande Bouffe, etc. The episode was directed by Georges Paumier and was originally broadcast in April 1975. In French, with optional English subtitles. (28 min).

• Behind-the Scenes - presented here is an archival episode of the French television program Pour le cinema featuring clips from interviews with Ugo Tognazzi, Marcello Mastroianni, Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli, and director Marco Ferreri. The interviews were conducted during the shooting of La Grande Bouffe. The episode was broadcast in April 1973. In French, with optional English subtitles. (11 min).

• Colors Around a Festival - in this archival video piece, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi, composer Philippe Sarde and director Marco Ferreri quickly address some of the more controversial aspects of La Grande Bouffe. The piece was broadcast after the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival. In French, with optional English subtitles. (5 min).

• Forming Ferreri - in this new featurette, Italian film scholar Pasquale Iannone discuses the life and legacy of director Marco Ferreri. The featurette was produced exclusively for Arrow Video in May 2015. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Selected Scene Commentary - film scholar Pasquale Iannone dissects five scenes from La Grande Bouffe. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Arrow Video in May 2015. In English, not subtitled. (28 min).
  
  1. Before the Bouffe
  2. Meat, Marcello and Michel
  3. Breakfast
  4. Brando and Ugo
  5. Andrea

• Cannes Film Festival News Conference - presented here is an archival segment of the French television program De Soleil d'Azur, which was filmed during a press event at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. In it director Marco Ferreri quickly addresses the anti-consumerist message of La Grande Bouffe. In French and Italian, with optional English subtitles. (2 min).

• Booklet - booklet featuring new writing on the film by Johnny Mains, illustrated with original archive stills and posters.

• Cover - reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx.

La Grande Bouffe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

La Grande Bouffe is Italian master Marco Ferreri's most controversial film. If possible, see it without reading reviews and even plot descriptions. I don't know if you are going to like it -- it is very different -- but I can guarantee that after its final credits roll you will want to discuss it. I think that it is a brilliant, extremely bold film, very much in a category of its own. Arrow Video have recently restored La Grande Bouffe in 2K, and I could not be happier with the end result. Do not miss this release, folks. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.