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The Taste of Things ★★★★
(PG) 134 minutes
The tantrums and theatricality attached to the cult of the celebrity chef are enough to kill my appetite, but I found an antidote in The Taste of Things. It, too, venerates the culinary arts, putting them right up there with music, literature and great painting, but its tone is modest, its dramas free of flying crockery.
It’s by Vietnamese-French writer-director Tran Anh Hung, who broke through internationally with his 1993 award-winner The Scent of Green Papaya, another film that demonstrates a flair for finding fascination in life’s quieter moments.
Taste of Things venerates the culinary arts, putting them right up there with music, literature and great painting.
In this case, Tran’s starting point was a 1920s novel, The Passionate Epicure by Marcel Rouff, inspired by the great 18th century gastronome Brillat-Savarin, although his script takes off in a different direction. Rouff’s Dodin is a pioneer of the celebrity chef tradition – a martinet who treats his guests as candidates in a gastronomic examination. One error of taste and they’re never invited again.
Tran’s Dodin (Benoit Magimel) is a much calmer and more contemplative character. He’s also in love with his collaborator, Eugenie (Juliette Binoche), the cook who shares his country manor house and transforms his ideas into delicious reality.
They’re in “the autumn of their years” when we meet them and for decades, Dodin has been asking Eugenie to marry him, but she prefers to maintain a measure of independence, which means she chooses the nights when her bedroom door will be open to him. Nonetheless, their love for one another is reflected in every meal they prepare.
Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel in The Taste of Things.
The boldness of Tran’s technique lies in all that he leaves out. He uses very little music and his dialogue is pared-back and to the point, as is his plot. The household’s elaborate meals are enjoyed only by Dodin, Eugenie and a small group of close friends who share their interest in food.
Their maid, Violette (Galatea Bellugi), is included, along with her young cousin Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire). Eugenie and Dodin have taken to Pauline because they realise she shares their gift for being able to recognise the subtlest flavours and aromas.