The most famous film by Italian provocateur Marco Ferreri ('Dillinger is Dead'), 'La Grande Bouffe' was reviled on release for its perversity, decadence and attack on the bourgeoisie, yet won the prestigious FIPRESCI prize following its controversial screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Four friends, played by international superstars Marcello Mastroianni (Fellini’s '8½'), Michel Piccoli ('Belle de jour'), Ugo Tognazzi ('Barbarella') and Philippe Noiret ('Zazie dans le métro') retreat to a country mansion where they are determined to eat themselves to death, whilst engaging in group sex with prostitutes and a local school teacher (Andréa Ferréol, 'The Tin Drum'). At once jovial and sinister, the film’s jet-black humour has a further twist as the reputed actors (whose characters use their own names) buck their respectable personas for a descent into chaos that delivers a feast for the eyes and mind. Still managing to shock, this is a riotous chronicle of excess that challenged the mores of society at a time when cinema around the world was breaking taboos. BBFC rated 18 - Strong sex ★★★★ "Jaded, crass and drenched in ennui, Marco Ferreri’s perverted nightmare of seedy 1970s sophistications may be a film of its time: but what a time" - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian