Bellyful

Maverick director Melvin Van Peebles translates his own satirical novel to the screen with this multinational portrait of race class and hypocrisy The films title refers to the name of a haute cuisine restaurant run by a selfsatisfied conservative couple Henri and Loretta When the two find themselves overworked in the kitchen they retreat to the local orphanage to find some cheap waitressing help and the teenaged Diamantine fits the bill perfectly The haughty couple has more plans for the girl than just waiting tables however the conspicuously accommodating Henri and Loretta are actually badmouthing the girl behind her back to the townspeople and the restaurants patrons They go so far as to ask the naive Diamantine to pretend that shes pregnant and she complies under the assumption that its a harmless prank When their intentions are revealed however the girl becomes wise to the couples selfsatisfied scheming and sets her sights on revenge