This Magnificent Cake!

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This Magnificent Cake!

Released Mar 1, 2019

44m

Comedy

Drama

Animation

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100%

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8 Reviews

90%

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Five narratives set in colonial Africa in the late 19th century tell stories about a troubled king, a middle-aged Pygmy who works in an upscale hotel, a failed businessman who goes on an expedition, a lost porter, and a young army deserter.

Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

A feeling of surreal disconnection and an elliptical approach to storytelling distinguish This Magnificent Cake!

Rated: 3/4

Apr 18, 2019

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Charles Solomon

Los Angeles Times

At 44 minutes, "This Magnificent Cake" may be a long short or a short feature. Either way, it's an intriguing, disturbing film, utterly unlike American studio animation.

Feb 28, 2019

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Sarah Williams

In Review Online

Clocking in at under an hour, the omnibus of stories here are more connected by setting than anything, and the individual vignettes seem too short to generate sufficient standalone strength for the scope of the story the directors’ wish to tell.

Aug 25, 2022

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Sarah Boslaugh

TheArtsStl

...uses satire bordering on absurdity to refer to a horror that, if it were expressed directly, few could bear to watch.

Rated: 7/10

Oct 19, 2019

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Sean Collier

Pittsburgh Magazine

Don't mistake it for a bleak history lesson, though; this is grounded madness, like Eraserhead rendered in felt.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 26, 2019

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Michael Ward

Should I See It

...one of the most innovative and groundbreaking films of 2019, delivering a style uniquely and profoundly its own.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 8, 2019

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Audience Member

An incredible stop-motion animated masterpiece

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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nefasto r

This dreamy, surreal stop-motion animation picture is really something special. Unique storytelling, composed by five loosely connected shorts, with meanings and horrors hidden behind nonsensical scenes and some kind of sad poetry.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Marc James Roels

Director

Emma De Swaef

Director

Paul Huvenne

Narrator

Jan Decleir

The King

Bruno Levie

Georges

Gaston Motambo

Ota

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Synopsis

Five narratives set in colonial Africa in the late 19th century tell stories about a troubled king, a middle-aged Pygmy who works in an upscale hotel, a failed businessman who goes on an expedition, a lost porter, and a young army deserter.

Director: Marc James Roels, Emma De Swaef
Producer: Steven De Beul, Ben Tesseur
Screenwriter: Marc James Roels, Emma De Swaef
Distributor: GKIDS
Production Co: Beast Animation, Vivement Lundi !, Pedri Animation
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Animation
Original Language: Dutch
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 1, 2019, Limited
Runtime: 44m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)