Big Night Thesis

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Big Night, directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott, is a movie about two Italian immigrant brothers and their restaurant “Paradise.” Primo, the older brother, is a first-rate chef, but only cooks food that he considers perfect. His unwillingness to make dishes that appeals to more customers like steak and spaghetti makes it hard for his brother to keep the restaurant afloat. Secondo, the younger, wants to be successful and accepts that Primo’s philosophy will drive their business under. In the beginning of the movie, we learn that if they don’t make a payment to the bank within a month, their restaurant will be foreclosed. Secondo goes to Pascal, a local competitor, for a loan, instead, Pascal offers to call Louis Prima to dine at Paradise. …show more content…

Their relationship is complicated and this is even shown in their names. Primo is the first brother, the one with a rare and special gift for cooking. Secondo has lived in his great shadow and resents him, especially for making business so difficult. They argue constantly and Secondo complains about Primo all the time. They don’t agree on how the restaurant should be run. Secondo complains that his brother is cheap and his stubbornness is costing them their business. He feels that he does all the work to make the restaurant a successful enterprise, and Primo gives him nothing in return. Despite constant arguing and complaining between the two, they love each other deeply. Secondo encourages Primo to ask out a girl he likes and when Primo gets too nervous, he asks the girl to show up to the restaurant for him. When Primo is offered a job from his uncle, he said he would only go if Secondo could work there too. When Secondo is offered a job by Pascal, it is clear that he and his brother come as a package deal. Brotherhood is what grounds these characters and prevents them from losing themselves. After all the dramatic events, lying, and fighting, the final scene depicts the two brothers eating an omelet with their arms across each other’s shoulders. The brothers experience life together and even if they are different, they will always have that bond. Even greed and betrayal fails to break their …show more content…

It’s a story about how art may transcendent and Godly, but unrealistic and impractical. Restaurants don’t succeed on good food alone; it ultimately depends on paying customers. The ambition to create a successful business can drive someone to forego morality and only fixate on the bottom line. America creates a system where lying and deceiving can be prosperous. Big Night is unique and worth watching, but its themes on American cuisine and business is pretentious. Claiming that one culture’s food is outright better than another’s is baseless. It is not a crime to serve hotdogs if that’s what people want to eat. Claiming that America’s capitalist economy promotes greed is a boring and overused theme that fails to see the big picture. Big Night does offer an interesting perspective on a genius that glorifies eating good food as, “being close to God.” Does eating good Lasagna really bring us closer to truth or is Primo just out of touch with reality? How much truth can starch really

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