Bagdad Café

A wonderful, funny, odd, and unique film.

Strong acting all around (Jack Palance is amazing). Inventive use of distorted colors and changing camera speeds. A few moments get a bit precious, but generally one of the best uses I've seen of a slightly surreal style to tell a very touching, human story - an overweight, depressed Bavarian housewife is left stranded in the southwest desert by her husband, and slowly finds herself, and a home among the odd characters who live and work at the Bagdad Cafe.

This is a case where brave film-making enhances rather than distracts from emotional involvement. The basic theme (we're all weird, and we all need somewhere to fit in) is nothing new, but the approach here makes it delightful and fresh.

The original 15 minute longer 'director's cut' available on European DVDs does add some nice details, moments and filling out of characters. The film works fine in its shorter US version, and the Italian DVD of the director's cut I got was frustrating in that it had a a weaker visual transfer than the US DVD, and there were Italian subtitles you couldn't turn off, but I was glad to see it, and overall it's an even stronger film with the original material added back in.

'Out of Rosenheim' (aka 'Bagdad Cafe') is a simply executed film. There are no lavish sets, no heavy special effects and the story is just as simple. But the experience of watching this movie is magical. The film takes place in an isolated motel in desert-like Bagdad (not Iraq's capital city) in California. A young mother (and grandmother) struggles to run her motel and keep her family together. Enter an enigmatic German lady into the motel and there is magic in everyone's life.

In a way 'Out of Rosenheim' can be described as a mood piece. The visuals are beautiful, very detailed and symbolic. The colourful characters are very likable. The enigmatic song 'Calling to You' appears every now and then as though Jasmine receives her calling. The background score is just as effective. Adlon makes good use of light and climate. How the heat seemingly irritates the characters in the beginning but gradually as the characters get accustomed or as 'life gets better' the heat is no bother.

Yet, 'Out of Rosenheim' is not just a mood piece. There is a solid story but it's not easy to describe what it's about. At the centre of it lies the friendship between Jasmine and Brenda. However there is just so much more going on. Both ladies are coping with their daily lives. Jasmine finally takes some measure and, consequently comes to Bagdad where she meets all these strange characters and as a friendliness develops, she brings colour not only into their lives but also her own. Adlon beautifully unfolds the mystery of her character by revealing that she's a magician at heart. There are so many beautiful and endearing scenes but it all feels genuine and authentic rather than syrupy. In a way, the film reminded me of the classic 'Mary Poppins' and the unique and subtle presentation of 'Out Of Rosenheim' makes it more real (in contrast to the fairy tale of 'Mary Poppins').

Just like everything else, the acting is great. Marianne Sägebrecht and CCH Pounder clearly own the movie. Sägebrecht unfolds her character's layers with skill and ease. She brings a gentleness and calmness to Jasmine that excellently contrasts Pounder's Brenda. Likewise, Pounder too demonstrates her talent as the chaotic and verbally aggressive mother who's trying to keep it together. The rest of the cast perform well.

Overall, 'Out of Rosenheim' is a cinematic treat. I would love to visit this film over and over again to see if I missed anything because of the detail but also the heartfelt story and characters warrant an invitation to watch again.

Bagdad Cafe has been one of my favorite films since I first saw it back in the late '80s. Like so many others who have commented on this film before me, as the film began, I too wondered how long I was going to last while I watched its very strange opening sequence. But, I stayed with it and by the end, was so taken by the characters and locale of this film that I immediately added it to my library and have watched it at least once a year ever since. Watching it is now like visiting old friends once again. One person commented below that they wished Bagdad Cafe really existed. While the characters in Bagdad Cafe may be fictional, the cafe really does exist. It is located in Newberry Springs, CA, about 20 miles east of the desert town of Barstow. Though it was originally called The Sidewinder Cafe, due to the following of this film, it is now called Badgad Cafe. I have had lunch there several times and each visit is a completely surreal experience. The cafe looks much the same as it did in the film and you can sit at the table right by the door where Jasmine used to sit and have her coffee. If you're ever passing by on Interstate 40, don't forget to visit. In the meantime, check out this special film. The memorable performances will keep you involved, even if the first 30 minutes have you wondering what and why you are watching, but hang in there. You won't be disappointed.

I sat down and watched this in a rather distressed state having had a trying day. After a few minutes into the film my mood changed as I became immersed into this strange tale of a harassed owner of a cafe in the middle of nowhere and a tourist from Germany. The owner of the cafe brilliantly played by CCH Pounder is just as bemused as we are why this German tourist delightfully played by Marianne Sagebrecht wants to stay at her cafe. This is a wonderfully unpredictable film never going where most films would go. It's utterly charming and I only got distressed again when I realised it was about to end! (9/10)

A overweight German tourist is dumped in the middle of nowhere by her angry husband and puts in motion a set of unlikely comic and touching events.

Here in the Internet age we can do a lot of good work digging up and re-appraising films that deserve to be seen. While this is film might not to be everyone's taste it is a wonderful light drama about people of no particular importance doing very little beyond learning about each other.

Yet it works so well and haunts you for days after seeing it.

For reasons I also can't explain I find the American hinterlands strangely poetic and underused. Films such as Paris, Texas and The Last Picture Show also used these regions effectively.

More than any other film I have seen it cannot really be explained in words. It is about atmosphere and delivery and superb acting for a cast of - mostly - unknowns. It doesn't really have a plot as such and merely lingers in small-town America and observes small town mores and manners with cold detachment.

A little gem.