In essence, on a biological level, bodies are simply structures programmed and compelled to swallow, digest and extract aliment to sustain and replicate itself. When this process is refined and meaning is engendered beyond that of the biological imperative, one can argue it is directly indicative of surplus nourishment. There exists perhaps a moment in which the process becomes antithetical to the initial structure itself, and this could be the very moment where social and cultural connections are spawned.

In Marco Ferreri’s 1973 film,” La Grande Bouffe” (where Ugo Tognazzi’s restaurant is titled Le Biscuit à Soupe), four close friends escape to a secluded mansion in order to partake in a group suicide-by-food through a nearly non-stop gastronomic orgy of elaborate meals. The dissolute behavior of the characters and their slapstick nonsensical exchanges portray a comic satire of a decadent and absurd bourgeoisie, bordering on the surreal.

As the protagonists die one after another in a variety of gruesome ways, the film hints at the foolishness of a belief system founded in consumption and desire while conversely celebrating the beauty of human connections and relationships, even when it is bound to terminate in self-annihilation.