MovieChat Forums > De grønne slagtere (2003) Discussion > Is the plot stolen?

Is the plot stolen?

posted 18 years ago by Phreakout
15 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie on the danish moviechannel TV2film, but even though this was the first time I had seen it ever, I knew I had seen the story before. And I was right! Only this time not starring Mads Mikkelsen, but Christopher Reeve (hur?).

As a small teenager I used to tape episodes of an eighties TV horror show called: “Tales from the Crypt” and I was pretty sure the plot came from this serie. But I had to be sure, so I went down in my garage and found my box of old VHS movies, looking for the TalesFromTheCrypt tapes, and I found them.

And thue enough… Episode: #4.6 called: “What’s Cookin” had an almost identical plot;
Christopher Reeve (Superman) is the owner of a squid restaurant, but the business aint going as good so the restaurant is about to be closed by their landlord. Fortunately one of the workers at the restaurant came up with a steak receipe that everybody really, really liked. Ofcause the secret ingridient in the steak was their landlord - which ironicly enough is played by Meatloaf... But the murdes continue in order to keep their customers satisfied.

Sounds familier?

Is this plagiarism intentionally?

[–] wiccanskeptic 18 years ago

I think it's actually based more on real events. Around the time of the first world war, there was a case in Eastern Europe where a butcher was using human meat in his sausages (I thought this was where it would show up in the film, as the butcher they worked for in the beginning was very proud of his sausages). I'm sorry, I can't remember the details, but it was very similar to the film.

P.S. I miss "Tales from the Crypt"

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jjensendk 18 years ago

Svends nickname is Svend Sved (Sved = sweat in Danish) and that is the tasty and important ingredient in the marinade. Bon appetit.

[–] xterminal 18 years ago

Google Fritz Haarmann, and the details will appear.

(Subject of a few wonderful movies, the best of which is probably Lommel's Tenderness of the Wolves, but Lang's M is also very loosely based on him.)

[–] lupis_noctum 18 years ago

The idea of selling long pork isn't a new one by any means. Sweeney Todd springs to mind.

"No one's got a ton of sympathy for guys who throw fat kids in the river"

[–] the_alchemist79 18 years ago

Years ago I saw the French black comedy Delicatessen, and I seem to recall that the plot involved a local butcher who got round the (post-war?) meat shortage by chopping up residents of the apartment block and selling their meat...then one guy he was about to kill fell in love with his daughter :)

Based on this and the other comments above, Green Butchers is evidently not the first film ever to feature butchers selling human flesh. Nevertheless, I was gripped by it and found it a strange but excellent movie. The lead characters and their stories are fascinating and the understated portrayal of the characters' flaws and emotions is done excellently, and in a rather moving way.

I rented this movie on the basis of having seen Adam's Apples by the same director (Anders Thomas Jensen). Whilst I thought Green Butchers did not have as many very funny moments as Adam's Apples, it kept me intrigued and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a black comedy that takes an unfliching look at human frailty, isolation and redemption, without a trace of sentimentality.

[–] thurberdrawing 18 years ago

I think this plot is as old as history. With slight variations on a theme, all of the following have much the same idea:

SWEENY TODD (which is not only the title of a Sondheim musical about a barber who cooks his customers and sells them as meat-pies, but the title of a song my father used to sing for laughs at cocktail parties when I was a kid. He got it from an Abe Burroughs record made in the fifties, decades before the musical. The story's been around for a long time.)

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (in which males who have been bad to females are served up.)

SOYLANT GREEN (There's something about the color green in a few of these works.)

There are many more. (I assume EATING RAOUL is one, but I haven't seen it or read about it. It's a wild guess.)

[–] ROcelot 18 years ago

Actually, I seem to remeber an old episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" having a similar plot. Though I would guess as long as there have been butcher shops there have been similar stories.

[–] noize23 18 years ago

Dont forget EAT THE RICH (1987)
Punk rock class war cannibalism served up on fine china.

[–] traveldave1 18 years ago

Actually, there was also an Alfred Hitchcock episode from the 1970's I believe that was one of my favorites. It was called I think "To Serve Man". In this episode, 2 guys are invited to this posh private restaurant and just love the main course, but the waiters and owner won't tell them what it was made from. So, that night, they sneak up to the restaurant after everyone has left. And you guessed it, they become the next nights dinner.

[–] screenwriter-12 18 years ago

traveldave1, the Hitchcock episode you're thinking of is 'The Speciality of the House', based on a famous short story by Stanley Ellin. 'To Serve Man' is a different story - a SF story about apparently friendly Aliens whose helpful book 'How to Serve Man' turns out to be a recipe book! 'The Simpsons' had an episode inspired by that story.

Michel

[–] cjvos1 17 years ago

the first thing that came to my mind was the british comdey show the league of gentleman. they have a sketch with a butcher who sells his "special stuff".

[–] daydreamer021979 14 years ago

Well that's the second time Meatloaf as ended up as dinner then XD

You! Obey the fist!
RIP Heath Ledger

[–] Gooeey 12 years ago

Blood Feast (1963)
Blood Diner (1987)
Delicatessen (1991)
Tales from the Crypt: "What's Cookin'" (1992) (probably the best episode of Season 4 of that show)
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)

Just what I know of. It's been done over and over.

[–] chicago85 12 years ago

I remember a story about the Battle of Leningrad in WWII. The Russians held out against the Germans for 872 days and were eating the glue from the bindings of old books. Both sides resorted to cannibalism. Leningrad had a special police unit to combat it. In onw instance a boy tried to buy food on the black market. He was lured to an apartment after being showed some meat. He saw parts of human bodies hanging up. It was so cold every pace was like a meat locker.

He managed to sruggle free and escape. He shouted to some soldiers outside what was happening. He said they ran into the apartment and he hear gunshots and kept running.

There were many documented cases of Japananese killing and eating prisonersin WWII. Some were frpm hunger and others were ritualistic murder. In one case fibe American airmen were eaten alive and 30 Japanese were tried after the war. Five officers were hung. This happened on ChichiJima