The story of Eugenie, an esteemed cook, and Dodin, the fine gourmet who she has been working for over the last 20 years.
Set in late 1800s France, ‘The Taste of Things’ is a lavishly produced romance that recalls the period works of Merchant Ivory – only the setting here is France and not England. That of course means the food is a lot better too, and indeed it plays a massive part in the story of the romance between a gourmand (Benoît Magimel) and his cook (Juliette Binoche). If there is one piece of advice I can give you before going to see ‘The Taste of Things’, it would absolutely 100% be to ensure you’ve had a good meal beforehand, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a sumptuous recreation of food in anything before – and I’ve watched plenty of cooking shows!
This is the story of two individuals who express their love for one another through food, and their journey together is matched by the food they create and share. Dodin (Magimel) is a wealthy man who lives to eat, spending much of his time eating lavish dinners with friends, which have been created by Eugenie (Binoche) with his support in coming up with the recipes. Dodin and Eugenie are in love, but she does not wish to marry for fear it may change what they have, and I really enjoyed watching Magimel and Binoche (who used to be married in real life) play out their romance. Much of the movie is spent in the kitchen of the country estate as a wide variety of dishes are lovingly crafted and it’s surprising how engrossing this experience can be – although as I mentioned, do not go in hungry and I’d suggest vegetarians may not really enjoy the movie either.
‘The Taste of Things’ is an old fashioned period romance that is expertly crafted by the Vietnamese born director Trần Anh Hùng, with Magimel and Binoche both magnetic, but it is the food that this movie is about, and while it could easily be pretentious, it is as finely judged a movie as the cooking it depicts.
Rating: 4/5
Directed By: Trần Anh Hùng
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick d’Assumçao, Galatea Bellugi, Jan Hammenecker, Frédéric Fisbach, Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire and Jean-Marc Roulot
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