Reviews
Big Night
A restaurant is failing. Two brothers disagree about why. That is the entire plot, and the film is better for having no more of one.
What distinguishes it from every film that has copied it is patience with process. The kitchen scenes are long, the preparation is shown rather than summarised, and the camera stays at working distance instead of pushing into close-up on the knife. This costs the film its montage opportunities and buys it something better: the audience learns how the restaurant works, and therefore understands what is being lost.
The argument underneath
The brothers' disagreement is usually described as art against commerce. It is more specific than that. One believes a customer can be educated; the other believes a customer can only be served. Neither is shown to be right, which is why the film has lasted — most films with this shape award the argument to somebody in the last reel.
The ending
The final scene is a single unbroken shot of an omelette being made and eaten by three people who do not speak. It lasts several minutes and contains no information. After ninety minutes of noise, service and argument, it is the only possible ending, and one of the few endings in American cinema of the period that trusts an audience completely.
More on this in Kitchen scenes.