Buffet froid (1979) - film review

One night, in a deserted underground station, an unemployed young man, Alphonse, encounters an older man. Alphonse tries to strike up a conversation and then produces a knife. The older man flees, but Alphonse later comes across him, dying with the knife in his stomach. Next, Alphonse’s wife is killed and her murderer turns up unexpectedly on Alphonse’s doorstep. Alphonse invites the strange man into his apartment and offers him a drink. The only other resident in the huge apartment block where Alphonse lives is a police inspector who lives alone after having been driven to kill his musically minded wife. A strange camaraderie develops between the three men as they fall victim to a bizarre series of events, which begins when another man bribes Alphonse to kill someone...

Widely regarded as one of Bertrand Blier’s greatest achievements, Buffet froid is one of the darkest and most original of black comedies that French cinema has given us. Set in a nocturnal, dehumanised urban desert for the most part, before moving to an equally barren lush countryside paradise, the film unfolds like a Bunuel nightmare, with its grotesque caricatures, implausible plot developments and an almost total lack of logic. Yet despite its frustratingly abstract narrative and near-farcical comic situations, this is a masterfully composed, hugely entertaining piece of cinema, one which brilliantly satirises our modern, supposedly civilised, society.

Bertrand Blier has stated that Gérard Depardieu’s personality was the thing which inspired to make this film. The two had worked together – with great success – on Blier’s previous two films, Les Valseuses (1974) and Préparez vos mouchoirs (1978). It is hard to imagine this particular "cold collation" without Gérard Depardieu – the actor is perfect material for this kind of eccentric, jet-black comedy, playing the lovable rogue with consummate conviction and charm. Depardieu’s co-stars in this film are Jean Carmet and Bernard Blier (father of Bertrand), both distinguished character actors with a huge film career behind them. Carole Bouquet makes her second notable film appearance after Buñuel’s Cet obscur objet du désir (1977). Two other well-loved stalwarts of French cinema also appear in the film – Michel Serrault and Geneviève Page.

© James Travers 2005

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