2018 ‘Ce magnifique gâteau!’ Directed by Emma De Swaef, Marc James Roels
In 1885, Africa is a succulent cake destined to be wildly divided and everyone wants a piece. A disturbed European king, a Pygmy working in a luxury hotel, a successful but lonely businessman, an enslaved porter, a young army deserter, a ghostly clarinetist. Some benefit from colonialism and greed. Others suffer racism and violence.
Jean-François Le Corre Mathieu Courtois Emma De Swaef Marc James Roels Peter Mansfelt Steven De Beul Ben Tesseur Ben Tesseur Koen Vermaanen Paul Mathot
Beast Animation Pedri Animation Vivement lundi ! ARTE CNC Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique Van Hecke Consult Comm. V. Basok BVBA Région Bretagne PROCIREP Netherlands Fund for Film ANGOA
It's like someone gave Buñuel a box of felt and showed him an article about colonialism. This is a compliment
A perfect film to show that one conservative friend obsessed with his 'Belgian heritage'!
Absolutely wonderful! Worth it just for the gorgeous woolen stop-motion animation but the way it turns one of it not the darkest chapter of Belgian history into a genuinely funny comedy is of an equally impressive level. Yes, it pokes fun at atrocities of an inhumane level but only does so to completely ridicule the side of the oppressors while simultaneously showing empathy for the enslaved inhabitants of Congo. Narratively speaking though, I do have some reservations. The fact that it's only 43 minutes long and technically an anthology story is great. It doesn't overstay its welcome and knows how to tell each little story with enough effect to not let them outperform each other. However, with the…
The kind of film that can go, in the blink of an eye, from pure visual bliss as it depicts a rushing waterfall made of wispy cotton, all the way to shattering horror as several fuzzy woolen characters tumble to their deaths over the same. The textures feel both tangibly real and wholly imaginative, whimsical and bleak in equal measure. It's almost too brief to really work as the indictment of Belgian colonialism it sets out to be - 44 minutes for five short stories is blazing fast - but the surface-level charm and spiritual anguish contrast with each other in a powerful way that tells all that needs to told about the rot at the heart of this system. An exceptionally unique and essential animated featurette.
An abstractness that is intentional by design, though my lack of knowledge of Belgium's colonization of Africa helps to not fill in any blanks (which isn't to say I'm surprised it happened). It all probably left me a little bit behind more keen viewers.
A part of me thinks that cramming so many short vignettes into such a short film (about 45 minutes) hinders its ability to properly cover such a dark moment in history. But how This Magnificent Cake! works is as a series of horrific scenes of pain, death and humiliation inflicted onto other humans. There's something so juxtaposing with the animation to the content that creates a horrific feeling. The comedic moments also feel both appropriately contrasting to the horrors, though some may just see it as incongruent. But it more brings out the humanity behind a film that is a dissection of our ability to have a lack of humanity
Not entirely convinced that this is as thoughtful a take on colonialism as the directors seem to think it is, but then again I also don’t know what the current discourse around the subject is in Belgium—in fact, IF it’s anything like the discourse in Italy (i.e., almost non-existent), then it’s perhaps enough for this film to exist and be accessible (you can rent it on Vimeo).
One thing I will say is that there’s something effectively disturbing, even sickening, about the way the white characters—regardless of their social standing in Belgium or their age—treat the Congo as a magical blank space where they can achieve unlimited power, and where they can rewrite the very laws of physics, shape the…
A layer cake of man-made tragedies. Can't quite put my finger on why the juxtaposition of cute visuals and plain cruelty is accomplished at reinforcing the awfulness instead of undermining it, but that's what happens.
While it comes together, the storytelling was probable a little too diffused for my tastes. Does have some absolutely awesome macabre scenes that'll stay with me!
Gorgeous and unpredictable, and also features history’s most disturbing stop-motion felted snail.
A animação e a técnica desenvolvida são fenomenais, mas nada me tira a ideia de que é um curta sobre colonialismo belga, feito por brancos belgas e se tratando de brancos belgas, com todo o núcleo africano tendo quase que nenhuma importância e mostrando aquele esteriótipo bizarro da "África Exótica".
E o pior, com uma história que, com certeza, não precisava se tratar de colonialismo. Foi gratuito e mal desenvolvido.
Nothing screams pathetic white male dominated power complex’s more than slavery, colonization, and pastries. In Emma De Swaef’s and Marc James Roels newest film, concepts on privilege, race relations, and the pitiful downfall of humanity are the building blocks for their magnum opus This Magnificent Cake!, a partly satirical retelling of the inhuman effects of colonialism on both the rich and the imprisoned. After a 6 year Hiatus from there traditional non-commissioned work, Cake stands out as one of their finest work, and one of the most important films to be seen in the 21st century.
Similar to films like The Battle of Algiers and the surrealist liking's of Luis Bunuel, Cake manages to detail the harsh environment of the…
