Too farcical to be a thriller, yet too surreal to be a farce, Bertrand Blier's wonderfully absurd Buffet froid follows Alphonse Tram (Gérard Depardieu, Stavisky…), an unemployed man who befriends anyone who will listen to him, before, often, murdering them by mistake.
After Tram's wife is murdered, he befriends his new neighbour, Inspector Morvandieu (Bernard Blier, the director's father), and his wife's killer (Jean Carmet, Black and White in Color) as they hop from misadventure to misadventure, often in bizarrely liminal spaces, leaving behind a trail of accidental victims.
Buffet froid was a financial flop in 1979, but has since gathered a die-hard cult reputation as, per Time Out, 'a cherishably Buñuelian depiction of the far-from-discreet crimes of the bourgeoisie'.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE CAMERA NEGATIVE
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTAITON OF THE FILM
- Original mono audio
- Bertrand Blier on 'Buffet froid' (2019): the writer-director takes an in-depth look back at his cult film
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche: 'Buffet froid' (1979): extract from the French television programme, featuring Blier and cast members Gérard Depardieu, Bernard Blier, and Jean Carmet discussing the film at the time of its release, alongside other guests
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- Script gallery: complete dialogue and continuity script
- New and improved English translation subtitles
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with new writing on the film by Sue Harris, archival interviews with writer-director Bertrand Blier, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits