The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

1991

Action / Comedy / Drama / Mystery

3
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 62% · 10 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 62% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.8/10 10 929 929

based on novel or book fight wedding night pocket watch

Plot summary

A small-town eccentric opens a café in her decaying home.

Director

Simon Callow Photo
Simon Callow

Top cast

Earl Hindman Photo
Earl Hindman as Henry Macy
Keith Carradine Photo
Keith Carradine as Marvin Macy
Austin Pendleton Photo
Austin Pendleton as Lawyer Taylor
Vanessa Redgrave Photo
Vanessa Redgrave as Miss Amelia
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
929.2 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
30 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 1
1.68 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
30 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Hey_Sweden 6 / 10

Most of us, we'd rather be the lover than to be loved.

Vanessa Redgrave is incredible, and memorable, in the role of Miss Amelia, the androgynous ruler of a small Depression-era Southern hamlet. She tends to citizens' medical needs, and manufactures hooch for them as well. Then, her life is shaken up, first by the arrival of hunchbacked little person Lymon (Cork Hubbert), who claims to be her cousin, and then the reappearance of her husband Marvin (Keith Carradine), whom she kicked to the curb rather than go to bed with him on their wedding night. Could be, he's out for revenge.....Directed by British stage & screen actor & director Simon Callow, this is a Southern Gothic melodrama with a difference. It can be rather strange and offbeat, but overall it's too interesting to dismiss outright. An adaptation of a novel (by Carson McCullers), and subsequent play (by Edward Albee), it has a very convincing look & feel, with top of the line production design & cinematography.The eclectic supporting cast also includes Rod Steiger, Austin Pendleton, Lanny Flaherty, Earl Hindman, and Anne Pitoniak. While it's true that Carradine has done better work, and while I found the character of Lymon rather annoying at times, a severely de-glamorized Redgrave is a perfect anchor for this ultimately sordid tale. She completely disappears inside her role.In the end, this serves as a reckoning for a character who misses one chance at love, but is able to love and enjoy life for a time before fate steps in.Six out of 10.
Reviewed by sam_perera 6 / 10

Not that great !

I just purchased this through the Merchant & Ivory DVD collection. I must admit I was unaware of who Carson McCullers was until I realized that she also wrote "A Heart is a Lonely Hunter". True to her style, this is a dark tale with the edge of by-sexuality in the main character (as McCullers was also). The movie it self is less than imaginative with some scenic wonders and yet with placid and flat acting. Simon Callow is not a good director and I definitely love the man as an actor more. Some scenes are memorable and the color red is used beautifully as a dress and a shirt - when you see it you will know how and why. Definitely put in the rent category for a somber afternoon.
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