The Taste of Things review –Juliette Binoche stars in deliciously subversive tale of later life love
Binoche and Benoît Magimel play a 19th-century French cook and her gourmand employer in Tran Anh Hung’s gorgeous, simmering drama
Sumptuous, sensual and impossibly handsome, at first glance French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung’s lavish foodie romance The Taste of Things looks like just another decorous prestige period drama. But in its elegantly restrained way, Tran’s film, which is set almost entirely in the kitchen, grounds and dining room of the country chateau of famed gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel) in 1880s France, is every bit as radical and risk-taking as some of the showier, quirkier awards contenders this year.
Take its exquisite opening sequence. Starting with a wordless nod of approval from Dodin’s celebrated cook, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), as the gardener hands her a gnarled, freshly exhumed celeriac root, the film then gets down to the serious business of cooking. Around 35 minutes, much of it dialogue-free, is...
Sumptuous, sensual and impossibly handsome, at first glance French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung’s lavish foodie romance The Taste of Things looks like just another decorous prestige period drama. But in its elegantly restrained way, Tran’s film, which is set almost entirely in the kitchen, grounds and dining room of the country chateau of famed gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel) in 1880s France, is every bit as radical and risk-taking as some of the showier, quirkier awards contenders this year.
Take its exquisite opening sequence. Starting with a wordless nod of approval from Dodin’s celebrated cook, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), as the gardener hands her a gnarled, freshly exhumed celeriac root, the film then gets down to the serious business of cooking. Around 35 minutes, much of it dialogue-free, is...
- 2/18/2024
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Movies are designed to dazzle through sound and vision. That leaves three out of five senses untapped, at least until cinema reaches its inevitable maximum-immersive “feelie” stage. The Taste of Things, the latest from the French-Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Anh Hung, is one of those rare works that gives you the illusion of engaging much more than just your eyes and ears. “Sensuous” is too mild an adjective to describe the way that this drama films, focuses on, and fetishizes the food that the occupants of a 19th century kitchen in...
- 2/9/2024
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel in The Taste Of Things. Courtesy of IFC
Warning: Don’t see this film hungry! Delicious shots of delicious food in a luscious landscape fill the French romantic drama The Taste Of Things but it is the perfect Valentine’s Day movie, particularly if you are a foodie, or a romantic. A visually luscious film starring Juliette Binoche, the story centers on two people who express their love for each other and for fine food, by cooking together. Set in 1889 in an old rural manor house, The Taste Of Things creates a beautiful dreamworld in the French countryside where the abundance of the land provides all they need. The Taste Of Things is a feast for both the eyes and the hungry heart, with the bonus of the Oscar-winning Juliette Binoche. It was the official Oscar entry for France.
It all begins in the garden,...
Warning: Don’t see this film hungry! Delicious shots of delicious food in a luscious landscape fill the French romantic drama The Taste Of Things but it is the perfect Valentine’s Day movie, particularly if you are a foodie, or a romantic. A visually luscious film starring Juliette Binoche, the story centers on two people who express their love for each other and for fine food, by cooking together. Set in 1889 in an old rural manor house, The Taste Of Things creates a beautiful dreamworld in the French countryside where the abundance of the land provides all they need. The Taste Of Things is a feast for both the eyes and the hungry heart, with the bonus of the Oscar-winning Juliette Binoche. It was the official Oscar entry for France.
It all begins in the garden,...
- 2/9/2024
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
If you are a filmgoer of a certain age, you will recall a heady time at the cinema when miraculous dishes were conjured up by beautiful people, rich aromas positively wafting out of the screen and onto the rapt audience, whose juices overflowed at the sight and imagined taste of the delectable dishes on show.
We’re not talking any old dinner here; we’re talking the likes of Babette’s Feast or Big Night. Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things is part of that delicious lineage: the period costumes, the painstakingly prepared food, the romance and the beauty are all present and correct. His film – and I mean no disrespect by this – sticks to a tried and tested formula, and whilst watching it, it makes us realise that we had been nostalgic for exactly this type of cinema for quite some time.
The Taste of Things is set...
We’re not talking any old dinner here; we’re talking the likes of Babette’s Feast or Big Night. Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things is part of that delicious lineage: the period costumes, the painstakingly prepared food, the romance and the beauty are all present and correct. His film – and I mean no disrespect by this – sticks to a tried and tested formula, and whilst watching it, it makes us realise that we had been nostalgic for exactly this type of cinema for quite some time.
The Taste of Things is set...
- 1/15/2024
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things is almost halfway done before it even hints that there’s something going on within its fin-de-siècle setting besides the creation and consumption of beautiful meals. The film’s first half hour is in fact just that, with Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), a veteran cook in the manor home of Dodin (Benoît Magimel), the epicure for whom she’s been working for over 20 years, making an extravagant, multi-course meal for him and his friends. The men eat the food, then compliment Eugénie on her cooking.
Given the close yet unfussy attention paid to the choreography of cooking, with Jonathan Ricquebourg’s camera flowing sinuously through the kitchen and peeking into pots as ingredients are added and steam billows out, it would have been satisfying if Hung had just concluded the film with well-fed Frenchmen chatting over a digestif. Fortunately, he’s interested not...
Given the close yet unfussy attention paid to the choreography of cooking, with Jonathan Ricquebourg’s camera flowing sinuously through the kitchen and peeking into pots as ingredients are added and steam billows out, it would have been satisfying if Hung had just concluded the film with well-fed Frenchmen chatting over a digestif. Fortunately, he’s interested not...
- 11/29/2023
- by Chris Barsanti
- Slant Magazine
"We worked together for over 20 years. I read a recipe and she worked magic on the stove." Picturehouse has unveiled an official UK trailer for the acclimated French film The Taste of Things, originally titled La Passion de Dodin Bouffant ("The Passion of Dodin Bouffant") in French or The Pot au Feu, which is one of the key dishes in the film. It premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews, including my own, proclaiming it as one of the finest food films ever made. Juliette Binoche stars as Eugénie, an outstanding cook, who has worked for the famous Dodin Bouffant (as played by Benoît Magimel) for 20 years. However, Eugénie, eager for her own freedom, has never wanted to marry Dodin. So Dodin decides to do something he's never done before: cook for her. Oh it's so incredible. All of it – the food, the romance. The cast includes Bonnie Chagneau Ravoire,...
- 11/24/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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