“Bagdad Cafe sets us free... from the production line of Hollywood’s brain-damaged
“high concepts” and walks its own strange and lovely path. There is poetic justice
in the fact that this movie, shot in English in America by a German, is one of the
biggest box office successes in recent European history.” (Roger Ebert, CHICAGO-SUN-TIMES,
9/9/88)
A record-setting 31st San Francisco International Film Festival wrapped with the
American premiere of Percy Adlon’s “Bagdad Cafe”, which received a rousing five-minute
standing ovation from the Bagdad-by-the-Bay’s avid filmgoing public. (Jeffery Jolson-Coburn,
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL, IFF San Francisco, 1987 )
“The gas station, motel and Cafe are all there is to this ship of fools called BAGDAD.
A group of people stuck in one limited space have to get along despite their enormous
differences. What gets me about ‘Bagdad Cafe’ is the movie’s feel for the creativity
of unusual or outcast people. Nobody in this movie has a chance in the outside world,
but together they make the Bagdad Cafe a great place to stop. It’s a story of lost
people finding themselves. It shows that characters don’t have to look like Hollywood
stars to entertain and touch the audience.” (Howie Movshowitz, THE DENVER POST,
5/18/88)
“91 minutes of happiness!”...”You can’t explain a miracle? What sparks it off? The
special-effect colors, the naive sophisticated humor, the two amazing actresses (Sägebrecht
and Pounder), the immense kindness, this love of life, the lop-sided swing evocative
of Monk’s jazz, all of this without a doubt. And a mysterious twang that makes the
talent of Percy Adlon, a light ethereal cousin to Jim Jarmusch. It’s a pocket-sized
miracle that you take away with you and think back to with a smile, longtime afterwards.
It leaves you happy, somewhat spellbound; maybe this film is a kind of drug. You’ll
be crazy about it, and tomorrow this is the title everyone’s going to talk about.
And with good reason.” (LE MONDE, 4/20/88)
“...simultaneously poetic, dazzling and intoxicating. In Bagdad Cafe, we discover
a kind of chemistry that all of a sudden transforms a down-to-earth reality into
something utterly volatile, a blend of dream and enchantment.” (LE FIGARO, 4/20/88)
“...A remarkable hymn to the reconciliation between people.” (FIGAROSCOPE, 4/20-26/88)
“This Café is a ‘must’, full of laughter and tears.” (FRANCE SOIR, 4/ 21/88)
“Bagdad Cafe is a miracle of timing and control for all its aura of zany, off-the
cuff spontaneity. It is the work of a director who has such a clear idea of what
he wants and where he’s going that he can take his time to build up every joke for
the maximum payoff. Nobody has ever directed Jack Palance the way Adlon has. Palance,
who never goes over the top, emerges as a terrific comedian.” (Kevin Thomas, L.A.
TIMES, 5/4/88)
