La Grande Bouffe (The Big Feast)

If you're fed up and bored with life, one option is to eat continuously until you die.  I know, not the first thing you thought of, but the four friends in La Grande Bouffe decided to do just that.  If you think that doesn't sound like much of a basis for a movie, you're right.  This 1973 "masterpiece" by director Marco Ferreri won some critical acclaim.  It's supposed to be an existentialist commentary on the destructive hedonism of modern affluent society, and is meant to be a black comedy.  There are some funny moments, but only the kind of unfunny humor of people resigned to the pointlessness of life.  The one plus side was that one was a chef, and they did enjoy their delicacies, so some scenes were hunger-inducing.  The pate the size of a wedding cake, pictured below, did not make me long for pate, especially since the creator ate it until he passed out and died on the kitchen table.  (There, I've ruined it four you.  All four men do, indeed, die.  Now you don't have to watch the movie.)

Hmmm, three of the last four films I've posted on were in French. . . . I think I'll stick with some English language movies for a while. . . .

Bottom line on La Grande Bouffe, one star.