It was December 16th, 2023, when I received the text “Do u want soup tonight?” to which I replied, “Yeah I can do a soup.” The dinner invitation came from fellow film buff Scott Rogers, who, along with his partner Sam Spaulding, writes over at Film Club 3000. I was between paying creative gigs, pulling third shift at the local Walmart, and writing on my 2 a.m. lunch breaks. I took a nap in my coffin full of dirt, then showed up late to dinner and a party viewing of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023). I ate on the couch. The soup was peanut butter ramen from @alifecooks on Instagram, a smooth broth made of vegetable stock and coconut milk with a dab of peanut butter. Mixed in were rice noodles, some garnishes, and fried tofu with a glaze made of peanut butter, honey, and garlic. Simmered for hours and planned like a jazz jam among friends, it was a kind invitation, and the best meal I had in 2023. It was the shittiest year of my life (so far), capped off with a series of great meals from friends who knew I needed some structure and taking care of, often in the form of dinner and a movie. Thank you to them, and let us all thank the cooks in our lives, because that is what the incredible The Taste of Things from writer/director Tran Anh Hung (Eternity) is all about — cooking, as an act of love, communication, and community.
Juliette Binoche as Eugénie in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Photo courtesy of IFC Films.
“I converse with you in the dining room through what you eat. What more can I say? And there’s nothing you eat that I don’t eat too. The turbot for example. I tasted it before.”
The film opens with a fresh vegetable being plucked from the ground and then passed between two pairs of hands. Over the course of the next 135 minutes, we will meet Eugénie the cook, played by Juliette Binoche (Three Colors: Blue, Godzilla), and the man she works for, Dodin, played by Benoît Magimel. The French leading man already forged a truly iconic screen character in 2023 in the overwhelming Pacifiction where Magimel played a French official in Tahiti who talks a big game, but proves to be inept. In The Taste of Things, he inverts this dramatic muscle, portraying a humble but assured and famous gourmet chef and critic who absolutely has the skills to accomplish his goals. He operates out of his family manor in 1889 France where the astounding Eugénie has been his partner in the kitchen and the bedroom for 20 years. Dodin has everything, except her hand in marriage. Then one morning, a local child is brought to them seeking an apprenticeship, and this new ingredient upends the family recipe.
L-R: Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire as Pauline, Benoît Magimel as Dodin Bouffant, and Juliette Binoche as Eugénie in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Photo courtesy of IFC Films.
Releasing wide this Valentine’s Day, it’s safe to say that The Taste of Things is the perfect date movie. It is romantic both in grand sweep and specific sentimentality, and gorgeous to look at. Beautiful people, beautiful food, beautiful light. One of my favorite moments to experience in life is the 10 minute span in the morning when I can step out into my hallway to a sleeping house, and a drowsy sunbeam crests over the eve of my neighbors roof, allowing it to strike through the window at one end and catch the dust of the morn down the corridor. A moment of magic, within which this film almost perpetually resides. Golden kitchens and golden fields, blue evenings and glowing clouds, cinematographer Jonathan Ricquebourg (Blind Spot; Final Cut) reminds us what movies should look like. It’s not a dreamlike film, it’s full of verisimilitude, but it looks how movies look in our dreams and our memories.
L-R: Benoît Magimel as Dodin Bouffant and Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire as Pauline in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Photo courtesy of IFC Films.
If there is anything to hold against The Taste of Things, it is only that it does not devastate the way it seeks to. Instead, the film “settles” for a lovely but elegantly mature time at the movies that compassionately writes to us about commitment, respect, and love. Take a date, take yourself, just make sure you pair it with a great meal.
In select New York and Los Angeles theaters February 9th, 2024.
Wide release February 14th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official IFC Films The Taste of Things webpage.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
Leave a Reply