The supermarket offers so much as a film location: the tension offered when turning a corner; the long shots on offer as characters stroll down aisles; the aesthetic pleasure derived from gleaming pyramids of baked bean cans.
Many films have featured scenes set in supermarkets over the years. Here are a few of them – what others would you add to the list?
1. The Big Lebowski
The first we see of the Dude in the Coen brothers fantastic The Big Lebowski is under the bright lights of Ralph’s supermarket. Dressed in a robe, shorts and sandals, and adorned with the iconic shades, the Dude opens a carton of cream, sniffs it, then proceeds to the checkout to write a cheque for 69 cents. You can’t make a White Russian without cream.
2. The Stepford Wives
Before the days of supermarkets having pre-recorded radio stations there was relaxing lounge music. Combine that music with a dead-behind-the-eyes stare when dispensing pleasantries, and the results are disturbing to say the least. Everything is slow paced and robotic; I wonder why?
3. Superbad
Nestled between endless rows of alcohol, Jonah Hill’s character fantasises about all of the various scenarios that could lead to him buying booze and getting the girl. Predictably he fails, but the sheer desperation and longing for the forbidden nectar is something all underage Americans can relate to.
4. Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead has two scenes which could have been included, both follow the same path as Simon Pegg’s character trudges to his local shop. The second scene shows him to be completely oblivious to the zombie invasion, missing the bloody clues he grabs a can of Diet Coke and a Cornetto – a brilliantly British combination akin to the French café crème and the croissant. Even though the shop isn’t technically a supermarket, it does offer the brilliant “I owe you about 15p” line which you couldn’t get away with in your big hypermarkets.
5. Grosse Point Blank
And finally, one of the greatest supermarket-based shootouts in cinema history, in which one unlucky Ultimart employee loses his job in spectacular fashion.
