The Ballad of the Sad Cafe - The Merchant Ivory Collection

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As Southern Gothic goes, Simon Callow's The Ballad of the Sad Café is about as eerie as a Great Depression-era tragedy can be, rife with subconscious rage, unholy alliances, androgyny, and grotesque spectacle. Based on a Carson McCullers novella but adapted from a stage version written by Edward Albee, Ballad stars Vanessa Redgrave as Miss Amelia, a singular force in her dusty, rural town worthy of a Walker Percy photo spread. Owner of the only general store in sight, medicine woman, and manufacturer of moonshine strong enough to numb the day laborers who collapse on her porch, Miss Amelia controls the pulse of her community. Things change with the arrival of a strange, hunchbacked dwarf (Cork Hubbert) who claims to be her cousin, but who ultimately sides with Amelia's ex-husband (Keith Carradine) in a campaign to make her life a living hell. British character actor Callow's ambition behind the camera proves a little overwrought, but he delivers a powerfully atmospheric, even nightmarish, drama. --Tom Keogh

Description

Three Academy Award® winners—Vanessa Red grave, Keith Carradine, and Rod Steiger—are the stars of this extraordinary 1991 film, directed by British actor Simon Callow. The Ballad of the Sad Café, based on the Carson McCullers novella and Edward Albee play, is both a grotesque black comedy and a prime slice of "Southern Gothic," set in a poverty-stricken rural community dominated by the curious, androgynous character of Miss Amelia. A forceful personality with a mysterious past, she runs the town's only café and controls the locals through distribution of her own secretly brewed "hooch." But Miss Amelia's eccentric existence is threatened with the arrival of a hunchbacked dwarf, who claims kinship with her, and reappearance of the husband she rejected on their wedding night.

Customer Reviews:

Best scene ever.......2006-05-03

Cousin Lymon takes a flying leap in the fight scene. It's the most hilarious scene in the entire movie. My AP English class replayed it over and over again.

Do not waste your time and money!.......2004-10-22

Don't even think about it. This DVD is going directly into the trash!

Vanessa Redgrave is great, but the story is grotesque.......2002-03-20

This 1991 Merchant-Ivory production is based on the novel by Carson McCullers and the play by Edward Albee. It's set in the South during the depression and there's a deep melancholy mood throughout. Vanessa Redgrave is cast as Miss Amelia, a strong and mannish middle aged woman who doctors to the population, makes corn whisky, and even though she runs a small cotton plantation, seems as impoverished as the everyone else. One day, a hunchbacked dwarf, claiming to be a distant cousin, played by Cork Hubbert, comes to town and to everyone's surprise Miss Amelia takes him in. He brings some joy to her life, even has her open a café in her home and she seems to be falling in love with him. But her ex-husband, played by Keith Carradine, who has just been released from prison comes back to town. She was only married to him for a few days, refused to sleep with him and humiliated him so much that he left in shame, but now he's back with hatred in his heart. To complicate matters, her dwarf cousin adores the ex-husband. Eventually there's a showdown in the bloodiest fistfight between Miss Amelia and the ex-husband that I've ever seen on a screen. The ending is sad.

I cannot say enough good things about Vanessa Redgrave's performance. I usually think of her as a sophisticated and attractive British actress. But for this role she takes off her makeup, crops her hair close to her head and lets her clear blue eyes shine from a weather-beaten face, her usual graceful body taking on an awkward gait, and her voice taking on a deep southern drawl. It is an absolutely magnificent performance with equally talented supporting actors. The story is weird but it kept my interest and my eyes were glued to the screen waiting for what would happen next. Too bad that I never really understood why the characters did what they did. I looked for resolution or some sort of explanation. Instead, the story became more and more grotesque, and I didn't like the ending. Just too many unanswered questions. For those interested in the Southern Gothic venue and who want to see wonderful performances, you might find watching this video an interesting and rewarding experience. For the rest of you, stay away.

"Sad"s the right word.......2001-11-11

Sad but good. Vanessa Redgrave is effective as a Southern loner living in a backwoods town. When a local man (Carradine) courts her and marries her, she refuses to let him sleep in the same house with her, let alone the same bed. Anyway, after brooding and complaining, You can imagine how embarrassed he'd be, it's a small town and everyone knows....events ensue and he ends up in prison.
Miss Amelia (Redgrave) opens a small cafe at the insistance of her cousin "Lyman" a hunchback . When, Marvin Macy (Carradine) comes back, completely changed after his stint in prison. Very bitter.. ..
And even though her cousin Lymon seems entranced by Marvin, as this now dark and alluring character he's become (And Keith Carradine is excellent at it ;-). Miss Amelia still sees him as an "evil man"

Zane Rules.......2001-01-05

I've seen this movie, and Zane Rockenbaugh can sure act. The scene where he takes a slap, boy I could just feel it. If you haven't seen this movie, see it just to get Zane slapped.

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