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'Bagdad Cafe' to Screen at Mass MoCA03:17PM / Monday, July 21, 2008
 | | Photo courtesy of Mass MoCA |
NORTH ADAMS — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art closes its Moonlit Movies series on Thursday, Aug. 28, with film classic "Bagdad Cafe."
The film has no special effects and no blockbuster stars but became a major stylistic influence on independent film with its mixture of loose storytelling and off-kilter metaphors. A remote outpost deep in the Mojave Desert is the setting for this exploration of the common threads that connect disparate people.
The film's sharp editing, interesting camera angles and likeable team of peculiar characters played by a talented cast have all helped it endure. With creative direction by Percy Adlon and standout performances by Marianne Sagebrecht, C.C.H. Pounder, Jack Palance and Christine Kaufmann, the film will begin at 9 p.m. outside under the stars in Courtyard C (moving into Club B-10 in the event of rain.)
Set in the California Desert, the film features a husband-and-wife pair of Bavarian tourists who are stranded when their car breaks down. A disagreement causes the wife, played by Marianne Sagebrecht, to grab her suitcases and stomp away. She stops at the Bagdad Cafe, a run-down truck stop managed by a blunt C.C.H. Pounder, who is also having marital issues. Cafe denizens include an unpredictable Hispanic cook (George Aguilar), a tattoo artist (Christine Kaufmann ) and a one-time Hollywood set designer (Jack Palance). An unlikely friendship develops between the tourist and the truckstop owner.
All Movie Guide calls it "a cross between an existential European character study and a giddy Hollywood musical" and continues "Percy Adlon's desert fantasy introduced the offbeat character actress Marianne Sagebrecht to English-speaking audiences and revitalized the career of Hollywood veteran Jack Palance. Adlon presents his truck stop as a metaphor for the washed-up hopes of those cast aside by America, whether by discrimination and economic hardship (Pounder's caustic Brenda) or by the times (Palance's cowboy/artist relic Rudi). The variety show that brings the motley crew together and affirms their status as an odd extended family would be embarrassing were it not for the film's arid, deadpan humor. Without resorting to the precious, Bagdad Cafe achieves the kind of elation one can get from a great musical."
The films for this year's Moonlit Movies series have been inspired by "Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape," currently on view in the galleries. All characterized by dramatic landscapes or a specific sense of place, the other films in the series are "Badlands" on Thursday, July 31, "Out of Africa" on Thursday, Aug. 7, and "North By Northwest" on Thursday, Aug. 14.
A full bar, snacks, and Herrell's ice cream (freshly made daily at Mass MoCA by Lickety Split) will be available. Doors open at 8.
Tickets are $7; MoCA members receive a 10 percent discount. Tickets are available through the box office located off Marshall Street from 10 to 6 daily or charged by phone at 413-662-2111 during box office hours or at www.massmoca.org. |
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