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Peerless cook Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) has worked for the famous gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel) for the last 20 years. Bonding over a passion for gastronomy and mutual
admiration, their relationship develops into romance and gives rise to delicious dishes that impress even the world's most illustrious chefs. But Eugenie is fond of her freedom and has
never wanted to marry Dodin. So, he decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
A delectable feast for the senses, The Taste of Things is a stunningly beautiful romance that simmers with emotion. The new film from acclaimed director Trần Anh Hùng, it will be an unmissable cinematic treat.
The Garden Cinema View:
French – Vietnamese filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng treats cinema as a sensorium. And from early works made in the country of his birth such as the sublime The Scent of Green Papaya and the Golden Lion winning Cyclo, through his underrated adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, to recent films made in France, Hùng has adhered to a style designed to privilege physical reactions from his audience over cerebral analysis. Hùng’s latest, The Taste of Things, is his most direct appeal to our senses to date. The precise attention to detail in the many scenes of food preparation and consumption create a tangible notion of smell, texture, and taste that brings the onscreen action quite tantalisingly close to the viewer. Although, and this may very much be the point, it remains unbearably beyond our grasp.
Likewise, the Belle Époque setting places the narrative within a fantastical space far removed from modern life: a chateau of gentle beauty, where the early Autumn sun is ever setting over the vegetable gardens and brook. The small cast of characters almost entirely occupy a rustic kitchen and gilded dining room, and the only permitted topic of conversation is the deadly serious appreciation of food. If this sounds faintly ridiculous, it is. But beyond this pretention is a genuinely affecting romance played out by two of France’s finest actors (Binoche and Magimel), and indeed the gourmand pomposity is very humorous to watch.
Best watched with a reservation at a good French bistro afterwards.
Cast:
Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel