| Ben Jarman |
Big Night plays at the Trylon Cinema on Thursday, August 6th. For tickets, showtimes, and other series information, visit trylon.org.
We always went to Taco Bell for lunch in a 1989 Honda Civic. Four or five other teens were stuffed in the car, some sitting on laps, just to flee class and get a bite to eat. Steak soft tacos and bean burritos were my thing, but I was there for something else: my classmate. We first ran into each other in sixth-grade science and always floated by each other through the years. We were already flirting before these lunch dates at Taco Bell, so it was only inevitable we take things to the next level; a movie date was needed.
The movie had to show I cared about the date because I was falling in love. I spent a good chunk of time looking at the movie options, weighing the qualities of each. In September 1996, The First Wives Club was a hot ticket, but that movie did not meet my requirements. I’d been hearing positive words about Big Night and after I saw the trailer, I knew that was the perfect date movie. This was just a feeling I had in my head and not a well-thought-out selection, so what made the feeling pretty spot on? Food is the obvious answer. Eating is easily one of the best ways to bond even if done at Taco Bell. However, there is more going on in Big Night than elegantly handled cooking and eating scenes. The characters preparing and consuming the food are all connected in one way or another, which adds a very relatable human element to the movie. In the end, Big Night is a feast of romantic relationships to stew on while thinking of the relationship bubbling within your own date.
First and foremost, Big Night is a movie about food. Two brothers, Secondo and Primo from Italy, come to America to open an Italian restaurant, only to realize that running the business is not as easy as it they made it out to be. The movie only hints at the greatness of the food the brothers cook until the day of a party when all the details of the meal are on display from preparation to feasting. This experience is perfect for a date because restaurants alone extrude romance. The right romantic restaurant experience has candlelight, flowers, and, most importantly, face-to-face intimacy so the participants can read emotions of a partner while talking and eating a rich meal. Even a dive restaurant, without flowers and candles, makes for an easy romantic connection.
Alone, the first “going out to eat” date we had was at a college town wreck behind a used CD store. Outside the one person working, the restaurant was empty. The highlight of the place was an old, vector-based Star Wars arcade machine flashing in the corner like a forgotten candle. Surrounded by the blips and dings of the machine, we ate pizza burgers consisting of pepperoni pizza toppings smushed between two buns. We never had anything like it before and it was all giggles between conversation and mildly spicy sandwiches. Face to face, we were both glowing; normally we would eat together with friends, but now it was just us.
The party meal in Big Night is situated on a single long table with people facing one other person on the other side of the table. Even with strangers, eating can be intimate if handled properly. First comes La Zuppa, a simple, body-warming chicken soup to set the tone for what’s to come. Several members of the party take a sip followed by a reaction shot of a woman smiling with her eyes closed at the comfort of the soup. Next is I Primi, a sampling of three different types of risotto. The great part of this meal item is the choice given to the diners; if there is an undesirable flavor, there are other options to keep everyone happy. Without pause, the show-stopping part of I Primi and the entire meal is Il Timpano, a mixture of meat, hard-boiled eggs, noodles, and tomato sauce baked inside an edible shell in the shape of a timpani drum. The partygoers all savor each bite individually and collectively in rapture, with one patron proclaiming to Secondo, “This is so fucking good, I should kill you.” With this dish the filmmakers can take viewers to a foodie nirvana without needing to taste anything. This engrossing meal scene puts a date right in the middle of the table, experiencing the rich flavors right along with the other partygoers.
If a date is engrossed in the meal, the date is also engrossed in the relationships in the movie. As brothers, Secondo and Primo have the most important relationship of the movie, but the brothers also have romantic relationships with other characters. These relationships change during the meal, making the meal tangentially related to the romantic relationships in the movie. At the core, Secondo is balancing a romantic relationship with two women, both at two different stages. Phyllis is Secondo’s traditional girlfriend and Gabriella is his muse. While part of the audience, a date can contemplate these relations in terms of real life. Is this date serious or just something on the side? And the relatable aspects of these relationships are not just from Secondo’s male perspective. At one point, Phyllis and Gabriella meet alone outside of the restaurant. They are not sure their relationship with Secondo is all it is cracked up to be. Frustrated, Phyllis says, ‘You know how they get you, these people, men, boys. They make you think they have secrets they will tell. They have nothing to tell. Then they talk. I mean, talk, talk, talk and they keep talking. And what do they say?” Gabriella says, “Nothing.” In essence the filmmakers are showing both sides of the relationships by moving away from Secondo’s perspective, allowing audiences on a date to consider multiple viewpoints of romance.
Contemplating a relationship is not something to take for granted. After five years of dating, I heard about a restaurant in the woods outside of the city. The Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter is a German restaurant we had to visit not just for the food, but also for the lodge the meals are served in. I remember returning to the same glow we had at Taco Bell despite being confused with the options on the menu. After dinner we walked in the surrounding pine forest and I proposed to my date. I was afraid I would not get it right, but there was no need to overthink it. Once again, our romantic milestone tied right into a good meal.
I knew Big Night was quietly celebrated by the press at the time for lovely renditions of eating and relationships, but the trailer made it clear I needed this to be my date movie. Not only did the meal scenes emulate an intimate date at a restaurant, but the relationships at the dinner also brought forth common romantic scenarios to think about with a date. A blockbuster like Independence Day from earlier in the summer might be more entertaining and safer, but Big Night has some class that a date can respect. Both of us admitted to liking the movie after attending and we went out to eat afterwards. As silly as it sounds, I consider Big Night to be a sliver of the reason we are married now. I didn’t think we would break up if the movie was a wrong choice for a date, but I do think being thoughtful about the movie to go to for a date makes a big difference.
Edited by Olga Tchepikova-Treon