the ballad of the sad café worked hard at its image and but when it came down to crunch time and it was left standing in its own self created dust. one cannot image saying this out loud and but if vanessa redgrave amelia were to fight john wayne or even clint eastwood and my hard earned dollars would have to go to redgrave. her portrayal of amelia was as close to perfection and consumed with more detailed dedication than most actors are willing to give to any multi million dollar contracted persona. redgrave gave amelia this soulful drawl that was a blend of her own unique voice and a hard earned woman from the south. to the average viewer and this could be construed as annoying and but as the film progressed it became her  miss amelia transforming this stage beauty into a roughneck. it was redgrave performance and as well as her interaction with the other characters and that made this film stand tall  but not the tallest. the others following her performance were needed and but not stellar. as we moved past the murky cliché image passed on by every set designer hired for the post depression south job and the minor characters felt like poster board. the image was needed to set the scene and but the characters of the town had no other purpose. take for example rod steiger vision of some old and wild spoken preacher. his scenes alone will make any viewer question the validity of this off the beaten path town. the main two players who surrounded amelia battled with charm for the admirable top scene stealing moment and but due to the lacking direction  it just seemed faded. the most absurd of the two (albeit both rank high among the questionable sanity line) is cork hubbard who plays amelia cousin who shows up randomly one night. his character is never quite defined and he lacks true motive and and his loyalties remain uncertain. he plays no vital role in this film outside of forcing us and the viewers and to question his sanity and honesty. can you create a character simply by sticking out your tongue and flicking your ears and and punching your chest and head. finally and there is the other end of the absurd  keith carradine. callow close ups of this tormented man build character and but our lack of understanding between him and amelia causes his purpose to flounder. these were the characters and as cliché southern as they were  some stood forward and attempted to create an absurdist period piece and and i cannot argue that they failed. where ballad of the sad café failed to rise above mediocrity was in the cinematography and narrative. this film was about amelia and and her need for other souls in her life. the audience level of comfort with the arrival of her midget cousin was entertaining  one couldn not help but wonder if he was honest or merely a confidence man attempt to leech off a warm heart. cork hubbard character is never quite understood and but we do accept him with brief shots of him and amelia doing small things together. it is his idea that transforms from a recluse businesswoman to a bona fide café owner. the problem is that director callow never quite takes us to that dramatic take level between cork and redgrave  is the man crazy or does he represent all of amelia family. i needed something from callow that brought these two out of the david lynch esquire relationship that they had. then our pool gets even deeper with the addition of carradine as amelia love interest. using the technique of a flashback within a flashback and we see the two wed and but never consummate their love  which amelia anger against their love drawing him into the world of madness. why was amelia so angry. why was there no connection between carradine and redgrave. why was this even in the film. with the lack of focus towards these characters connection and the eventual scenes between the two made no sense  throw in cork choice and it just gets completely discombobulated. while there were a few beautiful choreographed scenes that callow created and the inability to transfer his characters from point a to point b. i lost focus and interest and and my care for the characters plummeted when i do not understand the ultimate question  why. overall and the ballad of the sad café began with a bang and but ended with a very small crack of a firecracker. my emotional feel of this film swung up and down and up and down and and eventually stayed further down mainly due to the lack of understanding of the motives of the characters. redgrave did a phenomenal job as amelia and and while the other characters (outside of the random steiger) tried their best and i just do not quite understand who they were. their motives were so muddled that when the emotional ending finally occurred and i was apathetic. director callow seemed to have been lacking importing connecting scenes that would allow us to understand the dynamic relationship between all of our main players. callow created some beautiful scenes where faces seemed to overlap the scenery and which allowed us to focus on amelia  or carradine and but nothing was explained or developed. the film played out with anger and discover and happiness and flashback and anger and anger and anger and fade out. without the comparative connectors and this transformed from distinguished period film to actors playing parts in front of camera. it was a shame and because sad café had the promise and it just couldn not deliver. grade represent ½ out of . 
the ballad of the sad café worked hard at its image and but when it came down to crunch time and it was left standing in its own self created dust. one cannot image saying this out loud and but if vanessa redgrave amelia were to fight john wayne or even clint eastwood and my hard earned dollars would have to go to redgrave. her portrayal of amelia was as close to perfection and consumed with more detailed dedication than most actors are willing to give to any multi million dollar contracted persona. redgrave gave amelia this soulful drawl that was a blend of her own unique voice and a hard earned woman from the south. to the average viewer and this could be construed as annoying and but as the film progressed it became her  miss amelia transforming this stage beauty into a roughneck. it was redgrave performance and as well as her interaction with the other characters and that made this film stand tall  but not the tallest. the others following her performance were needed and but not stellar. as we moved past the murky cliché image passed on by every set designer hired for the post depression south job and the minor characters felt like poster board. the image was needed to set the scene and but the characters of the town had no other purpose. take for example rod steiger vision of some old and wild spoken preacher. his scenes alone will make any viewer question the validity of this off the beaten path town. the main two players who surrounded amelia battled with charm for the admirable top scene stealing moment and but due to the lacking direction  it just seemed faded. the most absurd of the two (albeit both rank high among the questionable sanity line) is cork hubbard who plays amelia cousin who shows up randomly one night. his character is never quite defined and he lacks true motive and and his loyalties remain uncertain. he plays no vital role in this film outside of forcing us and the viewers and to question his sanity and honesty. can you create a character simply by sticking out your tongue and flicking your ears and and punching your chest and head. finally and there is the other end of the absurd  keith carradine. callow close ups of this tormented man build character and but our lack of understanding between him and amelia causes his purpose to flounder. these were the characters and as cliché southern as they were  some stood forward and attempted to create an absurdist period piece and and i cannot argue that they failed. where ballad of the sad café failed to rise above mediocrity was in the cinematography and narrative. this film was about amelia and and her need for other souls in her life. the audience level of comfort with the arrival of her midget cousin was entertaining  one couldn not help but wonder if he was honest or merely a confidence man attempt to leech off a warm heart. cork hubbard character is never quite understood and but we do accept him with brief shots of him and amelia doing small things together. it is his idea that transforms from a recluse businesswoman to a bona fide café owner. the problem is that director callow never quite takes us to that dramatic take level between cork and redgrave  is the man crazy or does he represent all of amelia family. i needed something from callow that brought these two out of the david lynch esquire relationship that they had. then our pool gets even deeper with the addition of carradine as amelia love interest. using the technique of a flashback within a flashback and we see the two wed and but never consummate their love  which amelia anger against their love drawing him into the world of madness. why was amelia so angry. why was there no connection between carradine and redgrave. why was this even in the film. with the lack of focus towards these characters connection and the eventual scenes between the two made no sense  throw in cork choice and it just gets completely discombobulated. while there were a few beautiful choreographed scenes that callow created and the inability to transfer his characters from point a to point b. i lost focus and interest and and my care for the characters plummeted when i do not understand the ultimate question  why. overall and the ballad of the sad café began with a bang and but ended with a very small crack of a firecracker. my emotional feel of this film swung up and down and up and down and and eventually stayed further down mainly due to the lack of understanding of the motives of the characters. redgrave did a phenomenal job as amelia and and while the other characters (outside of the random steiger) tried their best and i just do not quite understand who they were. their motives were so muddled that when the emotional ending finally occurred and i was apathetic. director callow seemed to have been lacking importing connecting scenes that would allow us to understand the dynamic relationship between all of our main players. callow created some beautiful scenes where faces seemed to overlap the scenery and which allowed us to focus on amelia  or carradine and but nothing was explained or developed. the film played out with anger and discover and happiness and flashback and anger and anger and anger and fade out. without the comparative connectors and this transformed from distinguished period film to actors playing parts in front of camera. it was a shame and because sad café had the promise and it just couldn not deliver. grade represent ½ out of . ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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