An oddball comedy-drama about the relationship that develops between a Bavarian tourist, an irritable truckstop owner, and a weird artist. Set in the dusty Arizona desert land of lonesome motels beloved of Sam Shepard. The Bavarian tourist arrives sweatily out of the yellow haze, absurdly decked out in buttoned-up suit, green felt hat and feather, high heels and suitcase; gradually she transforms, and is transformed by, the lives of a motley band of misfits who inhabit a dilapidated diner exotically named 'The Bagdad Café'. A wish-fulfilling fable about culture-clash and the melting-pot, it's also firmly grounded in telling and cinematically original observations. Adlon's method is at once intimate, quirky and affirmative: precise evocation of place, expressive colours, and a slow build-up of characters, allow him to raise the film effortlessly into realms of fantasy, shafted with magic and moments of epiphany
Directed by Percy Adlon.
Free.