Last Supper - The executioner's meal
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Last Supper - The executioner's meal |
| Original title | The Last Supper |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1995 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stacy Title |
| script | Dan Rosen |
| production |
Matt Cooper Larry Weinberg |
| music | Mark Mothersbaugh |
| camera | Paul Cameron |
| cut | Luis Colina |
| occupation | |
| |
Last Supper - The Last Supper ( The Last Supper ) is an American film comedy by Stacy Title from the year 1995 .
action
A group of befriended students - Jude, Marc, Paulie, Pete and Luke - spend the semester break together in a holiday home. The five are staunch left-wing liberals, idealistic, but at the same time frustrated by what they see as the narrow-mindedness of most people. They represent their own political views with an almost narcissistic chauvinism. One evening Pete brings a man named Zachary Cody over to dinner when his car broke down and Zach was driving him home. While eating, the guest gets into an argument because of his right-wing extremist views, especially with the Afro-American Luke and the Jewish believer Marc, whereupon he provokes the group and is then stabbed by Marc. Shocked by their deed, the five bury the body in the garden, but then come to the conclusion that having killed such a pernicious person could be of use to society.
The friends discuss how they could do humanity a favor by eliminating people who do not have their socio-political views. The basic thesis is whether or not someone who could travel back in time to 1909 to meet the young Hitler would kill him or not.
They then organize meetings with selected guests from the community to discuss political issues. The guests with views contrary to the group are selected in advance. If the guests' views on sensitive topics do not match those of the group, the group then poisons the guests. The fate of a guest is decided by the choice of carafes filled with wine. If the guest is offered wine from the green carafe, he has passed the test and can continue to live. If the students offer him from the blue carafe, he will die of the arsenic mixed in this wine. Due to their pre-selection, almost no guest has the opportunity to drink from the green carafe. After each murder, the five bury the victim in the garden of the holiday home and plant tomatoes on the graves. By the way, the tomatoes grow splendidly and taste very sweet, the pantries of the house are filling up more and more with tomatoes, Marc even starts to paint with tomato juice.
Over time, tensions within the group increase. Some feel guilty, others show signs of megalomania under the influence of their power, especially Luke who becomes downright paranoid. The students seem to get into trouble when the local female sheriff is investigating the case of a missing girl who appears to have fallen victim to Zachary Cody. When the law enforcement officer finds out that Pete was in contact with Zachary Cody, she continues to investigate the group. After she stumbled upon the "family grave" in the garden, she was killed by Luke. Luke hides this murder from the group.
The finale begins with a chance encounter at the airport. Luke and Pete meet Norman Arbuthnot, a television presenter, whose conservative political statements have made him the enemy of the five students. His appearances run like a red thread through the film in the form of occasional appearances on the television screen. Arbuthnot, who cannot continue flying because of bad weather, is invited to dinner.
Seized with an irrepressible satisfaction at finally being able to kill what they consider to be the worst political agitator in the country, the students sit expectantly at the table and now involve Norman Arbuthnot in a political conversation. Confronted with the allegations of being right-wing extremist, Arbuthnot explains that his statements were only made so that his show would achieve better audience ratings. The five then ask Arbuthnot additional questions about his views on various issues that have killed previous guests. But he always replies in a liberal, enlightened spirit, which surprises the five and grows frustrated, until Luke finally asks the ultimate question about the encounter with Hitler. Arbuthnot replies that he would not kill Hitler, but rather, through "intelligent argumentation", let his political view be plunged into the abyss. Luke, who is convinced that if Norman Arbuthnot goes into politics, he will be the new Hitler, now offers him from the poisoned blue carafe. The others intervene loudly and want to offer Arbuthnot from the green one because the wine from the blue carafe is bad. All the students finally retreat into the kitchen and argue violently - Luke still wants to kill Arbuthnot, but the remaining four are convinced of his liberal conscience. Luke insists on his plan, informs the others of the sheriff's murder and finally threatens them with a revolver. He seems ready to kill his friends so that he can continue killing unmolested. Eventually, however, Luke gives up; He realizes how he has changed himself through the constant killing and agrees that no poisoned wine will be served at today's meal.
Arbuthnot, who was left behind, had become curious because of the students' strange behavior, and in the meantime made some discoveries: The first thing he noticed was a bad smell in the wine in the blue carafe. Then he comes across newspaper clippings reporting the missing people from the community who have become victims of the students. When he happened to look out of the window, he discovered the striking piles of earth of the graves outside in the garden, the number of which corresponds to that of the missing people.
The students come back and toast with wine that Arbuthnot has already poured for them. When they hesitate briefly before drinking - they don't know which carafe the wine comes from - Arbuthnot calms them down by saying that he of course poured them some of the good wine. The fact that Arbuthnot doesn't want to drink any more doesn't make the students suspicious either.
The viewer then sees a naive colored drawing of the five students lying dead on the floor, a triumphant-looking Arbuthnot between them. Apparently he had poured the poisoned wine in the absence of the students.
Parallel to this scene, one hears a speech by Arbuthnot in which he announces to the cheering of the audience that he wants to run for the office of president.
Reviews
James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film looked “promising” in the first 30 minutes, but later “stagnated”. None of the main actors perform particularly well.
"Pointed, biting farce on" Political Correctness ", which uses the horror tale and the grotesque conviction reminiscent of Pop Art to dress the political lesson in a black comedy and to create lasting irritation in the picture puzzle of the common (funeral) meal. "
Awards
Stacy Title won the 1996 Grand Prix of the Cognac Festival du Film Policier and was nominated for a prize at the Festival Internazionale del Giallo e del Mistero di Cattolica .
background
The film was shot in Los Angeles . Its world premiere took place on September 8, 1995 at the Toronto Film Festival . The film grossed just $ 442,965 in US theaters . Last Supper is the English translation for both the executioner's meal and the last supper . The house where the film was shot burned down the same day post-production was completed.
Web links
- Last Supper - the last meal in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Last Supper - the last meal at Rotten Tomatoes (English)