"The Taste of Things": a feast for the senses at Film Group

Despite the distractions of the solar eclipse, a record 15 of gathered in the Burleigh Arms to discuss The Taste of Things, presented by Susie.  It’s a love story between a chef, Dodin Bouffant, and his cook, Eugénie (played by Benoit Magimel and Juliette Binoche), set in late 19th century France, and centres around the creation of amazing food - the second love story in the film. 

Susie explained how the film came to be made. Once the Vietnamese screenwriter and director Tran Anh Hung decided he wanted to make a film about food, he read many books about great cooks, until he found Marcel Rouffe’s 1924 novel “La Vie et la Passion de Dodin Bouffant, Gourmet,” or, in English, “The Passionate Epicure.”  He loved the story, but the book begins after Eugénie’s death. Tran wanted to imagine and tell the story of Dodin’s and Eugénie’s two decades of life together, so he created a film prequel to the novel.

The film is set in late 19th century France and was shot primarily at a chateau in the Loire Valley in April and May 2022. Its world premiere was at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for best director, and even though Anatomy of a Fall won the Palme d’Or for best picture that year, the French government chose The Taste of Things as its candidate for the 2024 Oscars Best International Feature film. It was shortlisted, but did not win.

On Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of critics’ reviews were positive and it received an average overall rating of 8.4 out of 10, described as a “seven-course love story for the soul.” Roger Ebert said it “achieved a delicately balanced experience that felt like a magic trick.” However, one French critic found its slow pace and lack of dramatic tension “boring.” 

The director Tran Ann Hung grew up in a village in Vietnam, where his father would go to the movies, then reenact scenes for the villagers who presumably couldn’t afford to go.  This gave Tran a love of storytelling.

Susie explained the multiple reasons why she had chosen this film. Firstly, she loves to garden and to cook, and also loves romance and beauty. The film begins in the kitchen garden, then blossoms in the kitchen - both places which require expertise, patience, attention, loving care, and renewal with each season. Secondly, she reckoned it to be the most richly sensuous movie she’d ever seen. We, the viewers, quickly understand how/why eating good food gratifies all five senses - the aromas of fresh herbs or baking bread, the sounds of sizzle, the feel of texture, the beauty of it all and of course, the taste. At the same time, the sensuousness is subtle and understated. Nothing is rushed or heightened artificially.  Even the few times Dodin visits Eugénie’s room at night, their interaction is tender and subdued, making it far more interesting than the way sex is often portrayed in films today. Finally, and this rarely happens, she identified with most of the film’s characters, especially Dodin, Eugénie and Pauline, and fancied that she would have thoroughly enjoyed spending more time with them.

There were a few notable things about the film:-

Firstly, the opening scene, which lasts 38 minutes, and shows a gourmet meal being prepared.  Dodin and Eugénie are in a pas de deux, obviously together in soul and spirit as well as around the stove, though few words are spoken between them.  They are co-stars with the vegetables, the fish, the loin of veal, the quenelles, the baked Alaska and the act of cooking a meal that transcends mere nourishment.  The choreography is beautifully filmed, with the camera seeming to be floating like a champagne bubble.

In the midst of this kitchen ballet young Pauline is watching, wide-eyed with fascination.  Dodin hands her a spoonful of sauce, asking if she can tell him what’s in it.  She closes her eyes and names the ingredients…bacon, red pepper, cumin, coriander, cognac.  Without training – and only 9 years old! – she clearly has a rarely talented palate, and both Dodin and Eugénie, without speaking, realize they want to pass on to Pauline their experience and expertise.  Later she tells Eugénie she almost wept when she tasted the vol au vent…it affected her in her soul…as this movie affected Susie.

In interviews, the director Tran said he wanted to make a film about food that didn’t look like any others.  The cooking scenes are indeed real, with nothing fake about them.

He also said, “I wanted a sense of harmony because Eugénie and Dodin had known each other for so long, I had to create a ballet in the kitchen and at the same time have complex camera movement – this was difficult but most enjoyable to make.  It was about these two people doing their craft, respecting their work, taking time to get the flavours just right.”

The meal is exquisite and Dodin and his four gastronome friends upstairs eat it with great pleasure.  When they come downstairs to thank Eugénie and ask why she never joins them upstairs, she gently explains that it would be impossible to be upstairs and produce that meal, and that in any case “I converse with you in the dining room through what I cook for you.”

Secondly, the beauty and colour.  The film is saturated with lovely, subdued colour, with many frames feeling like paintings. Susie commented, “As I thought about the hues and tones, I realised they could be described by the names of foods – apricot, leek, avocado, mushroom, chestnut, vanilla, meringue, raspberry, tangerine, lime…and so forth.”

Thirdly, the music.  There is no music in this film!  Director Tran felt music would make the auditory experience feel fabricated.  He wanted the natural environment – bird song and roosters crowing, sizzling meat, bubbling broths, clinking of glasses – to provide the atmosphere.  He said, “I like music in most films, but in this one the wonderful sounds of the kitchen and birds outside were their own music.  I had to find the right colour and texture of these sounds, but once I did, I didn’t need man-made music…it would have seemed artificial.”

Fourthly, the casting. Adding an extra layer of emotional resonance to the film’s backstory is the real-life history of its stars.  Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel became romantic partners in 1999 while they were making Children of the Century in which she played George Sand, and he played her lover French poet and playwright Alfred de Musset.  Binoche and Magimel had a daughter, Hana, together, but never married.  They parted company twenty years ago and had not worked together since.

When Tran discussed with Binoche his desire to cast Magimel opposite her, she doubted Magimel would be interested. When he accepted she was sceptical about their working together…but it worked out wonderfully.

Another interesting casting was that of Pierre Gagnaire, a multi-Michelin starred French chef as the Prince of Eurasia’s “borrowed chef” who announced the ridiculous over-the-top 8-hour menu to Dodin and his gourmand friends.  Gagnaire was also the culinary director of the film and spent many hours on the set working with Binoche and Magimel, who actually cooked the food.  Tran said of Pierre Gagnaire, “He is a great chef.  He cooked everything for me so I knew what it tasted like.  When he cooked the covered dishes that Grimaud brought to Dodin at the end, I asked him to tell me what he would say about them and wrote his words into the script for Dodin to say.”

Tran had doubles available when he thought it might be difficult for the actors to handle the heavy pots, hot water and so forth, but he never used them because, after many hours working with Gagnaire, Binoche and Magimel wanted to do it all themselves.

The group were unanimous in loving the beauty and sensuousness of the film, with the lack of technology and transport rendering it almost timeless.  All the characters were decent and likeable.  That first scene was compared to a strong Burgundy followed by a Sauterne with a long finish. One member likened it to an operating theatre, with few words, yet everyone knowing their moves and what equipment to use.  This opening scene made it clear that this was a film about the preparation of food, rather than only its consumption. Dodin’s friends all clearly appreciated good food, and could also cook. 

We wondered whether the young girl Pauline, a nine-year-old with an extraordinary palate, symbolised not only the handing on of the expertise of gastronomy, but also the culture of the time.  Her rejection of the flavour of bone marrow pointed out the long route to true appreciation of complex foods.  However, she has another role – her appearance brings Dodin back to life after Eugénie’s death.  It appeared at the end that she would not be taken on the next step of the journey with the new cook, but all is well - they come back to collect her. 

We also appreciated how the film pokes gentle fun at the French obsession with gastronomy, perhaps as a symbol of power, as illustrated by the huge, rich meal at the beginning (how could they eat so much at one sitting?), and the long complex menu read out by the chef of the ‘Prince of Eurasia’ - himself a ludicrous fiction.

We were also very moved by the portrayal of the couple’s love for each other, intensifying with the changing seasons. They are a couple in the autumn of their years, like ripening fruit - as reflected by Dodin’s words at the dinner where they announce their intention to marry (we know that he has been asking her for 20 years or more), and in the moment where Eugénie lies naked, beautiful like an alabaster pear.   We were particularly touched by the scene in which Dodin prepares a wonderful meal for an ailing, almost unrecognizable, but still very beautiful Eugénie - a real act of love.

We reflected on other films where food preparation is the theme - with Chocolat (also starring Juliette Binoche), Babette’s Feast, Le Grand Bouffe, and the cartoon Ratatouille illustrating the range of ways in which this can be handled. We were also struck by how new culinary inventions can be reduced to banality over time - less than 100 years after the innovative ‘Omelette Norvégienne’ startled the gastronomic world, it has been reduced to mundane mass-consumed Baked Alaska.  

We reflected on the ambiguous relationship between Dodin and Eugenie - clearly lovers and in love, but also employer/employee - the bedroom where he visits her is in the servant’s quarters. Are his friends aware of their relationship?  Does she decline their invitation to dine with them in case this is revealed?   It was also unclear how Dodin made money from his talents - we concluded that he must have been independently wealthy.

It was also pointed out that there were key moments where we do not see important bits of the plot, e.g., when Dodin tries to explain to Pauline and her parents why she cannot be employed as an apprentice - we next see her in the kitchen, clearly having got her own way on this.  Equally, we never see the simple ‘boiled boeuf and vegetables’ that Dodin proposes to cook for the ‘Prince of Eurasia’. And very importantly, we don’t see what happens immediately after Eugenie finds the engagement ring in the dessert Dodin has prepared for her. 

Finally, we had much discussion about the beautiful last scene, where the camera moves three times round the kitchen, with items appearing and disappearing. It ends with a beautiful conversation where Eugénie confirms that she wants to be Dodin’s cook rather than wife - was this imagined or a flashback?  Her choice of ‘cook’ was a glorious statement of her wish to be an equal partner in her life with Dodin.  

We all agreed it was wonderful choice of film, set off by an appropriately rich discussion.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 26th August, when Yvette will present Working Girl.