1,107 Ratings

The Big Feast

La Grande Bouffe

Italy, France, 1973

Comedy

Synopsis

Four successful middle-aged men Marcello, a pilot; Michel, a television executive; Ugo, a chef; and, Philippe, a judge go to Philippe’s villa to eat themselves to death. After the first night, Marcello insists that women should join them.

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The Big Feast Directed by Marco Ferreri

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Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

1973 | Winner: FIPRESCI Prize

Mar del Plata International Film Festival

2010

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Cast & Crew

Critics reviews

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The Talkhouse

What if the Food Network remade Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom? I’ve seen this movie maybe three to five times in my life, and by the end of its more than two-hour running time, the cumulative effect of the debaucheries displayed never fails to pack a revolting punch.

Zach Clark

December 14, 2018

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Screen Slate

If the promise of canonical film school heartthrobs – among them Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, and Michel Piccoli – gorging and fucking themselves to death in a provincial villa sets your heart a-racing, close that incognito tab and treat yourself to La Grande Bouffe. . . . Full bellies and belly-laughs await the hungry viewer – after two-hours-and-change of bilious morbidity, the next home-grown, garden-variety orgy you read about will seem like little more than a light snack.

Caroline Golum

January 08, 2018

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Ferreri isn’t Buñuel’s peer in terms of the sophistication of his jokes or the polish of his formality, but this bluntness is intentional. There’s little satirical orientation in La Grande Bouffe, beyond its catchall parody of entitlement. A viewer can’t safeguard themselves from the extremity of Ferreri’s nihilism by clinging to what his film is “about,” and this is the director’s most startling achievement.

Chuck Bowen

August 20, 2015

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What are people saying?

Carmine Loru's rating of the film The Big Feast
Carmine Loru

One of my all-time favs, maybe because I am Italian, maybe because I love French food, but mostly because I love great movies!
January 12, 2017 23:35
- 1
- 0
Luca Prosperi's rating of the film The Big Feast
Luca Prosperi

A movie for very few. Those very few who experienced true friendships beyond material imitations of hedonistic dreams. I am one of those lucky ones.
December 28, 2016 14:21
- 1
- 0
Tja's rating of the film The Big Feast
Tja

A timely seasonal warning about the dangers of over indulgence? Black humour amidst a lot of food, especially game birds and deserts in the grande french tradition. And sex. Flatulance be damned, that's just Le Mistral ...
January 24, 2019 18:36
- 2
- 0
J.J. 'Jake' Gittes's rating of the film The Big Feast
J.J. 'Jake' Gittes

This is not everybody's cup of tea because it's not at all funny. Just the opposite. You may call it bizzarre, grotesque, surreal, absurd, perverse, obscene, tasteless. And, yes, it is true; all of it. But still this movie is great. It is satire at it's best; a parable designed to illustrate that greed, hedonism, all kind of excesses (money, fame) along with poor, low morale will doom us to destruction. Masterpiece.
January 24, 2019 18:22
- 3
- 0
El Biffo's rating of the film The Big Feast
El Biffo

One of the best foodie dramas, and Ferreri's brand of perversity is unique.
March 13, 2017 22:46
- 5
- 0
Fabio Di Felice's rating of the film The Big Feast
Fabio Di Felice

Un capolavoro. Descrizione di una borghesia disgustosa che distrugge per il puro gusto di consumare tutto quello che per loro è accessibile. Idea di partenza fortissima (quasi bunuelliana), messa in scena perfetta e un cast di fenomeni (c'è Mastroianni, pochi cazzi, quando c'è lui in scena è tutta un'altra musica). Nel finale si trasforma quasi in un incubo alla De Sade. Stupendo. 5*
May 15, 2013 20:08
- 1
- 0
melancolia's rating of the film The Big Feast
melancolia

I lost my appetite for a while after I watched this. The extreme of the extremes. It was sublime, yet nerve-wracking
February 18, 2013 21:15
- 2
- 0
lexarama's rating of the film The Big Feast
lexarama

It's the Marquis de Sade played for laughs. If that whets your appetite then you are in for a treat. I adore this film for all its unbridled, lubricious, orgiastic revelry that hides a darkly satirical heart - just like the obscene pate creation by which one of the cast finds his nirvana, this film is one to be devoured until you are full to bursting. And then devoured some more!
January 24, 2019 15:55
- 2
- 0