Director: Percy Adlon, colour, 108 min., 1987
After a domestic dispute, Bavarian businesswoman Jasmin Münchgstettner is stranded alone in the Mojave Desert. She enters the Bagdad Café, a shabby motel with a café and gas station. Brenda, an endless nag, rules supreme here. It’s also home to Brenda's son and his offspring, her provocative daughter Phyllis, a mysterious tattoo artist, and a set-painter from Hollywood, Rudi Cox. Rudi paints an oil portrait of Jasmin in progressive levels of undress. Jasmine gradually wins Brenda’s trust and refurbishes the business. Using tricks from an old magic kit, the two women eventually become an insider’s tip for those in the area. A gentle film about the friendship between two women from completely different worlds.
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