Screens /Movies

The Taste of Things

Where: In theatres
What: Movie, 135 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Drama
Rating: NNNN (out of 5)
Why you should watch: If The Taste of Things were a meal, it would be a deconstructed dish. Not burdened by a propulsive narrative, it’s a languorous celebration of food, patience and barely-requited romance. Director Tran Anh Hùng (The Scent of Green Papaya), winner of the 2023 Cannes Best Director prize for the film, has decided neither a story nor a romance can be rushed — just like a meal, they need time to simmer. Words are hardly spoken and there’s almost no music, just the sounds of cooking in the first 30 minutes of the film as the actors (and the audience) are consumed by the process of making a classic French meal in a glorious country kitchen of French gourmand, Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel), “The Napoleon of culinary arts.”

Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) works under Dodin and wields quiet command in the kitchen while mentoring adolescent Violette (Galatea Bellugi). Binoche and Magimel were once married in real life, but Bouffant’s attempts to wed Eugene have been routinely rejected by her; instead, she’s satisfied to allow him into her bedroom the nights of her choosing.

While many classic food films, including Babette’s Feast, Tampopo and Big Night, are all singularly focused on a pending meal at the centre of the film, The Taste of Things (and the relationship depicted in it) is more about the process, more about the trip than the destination. Among other things, the film captures the selfless joy of cooking for others while it quietly tells a love story as subtle as a perfectly seasoned sauce.