Donât walk into âThe Taste of Thingsâ hungry, because youâll be bolting out midway through the film to devour the entire concessions stand. The film (directed and written by Trần Anh Hùng) is based on the novel âThe Passionate Epicure: La Vie et la Passion de Dodin-Bouffant, Gourmetâ by Marcel Rouff, whose lead character Dodin-Bouffant is a roguish gourmet chef equally adept at food and love.
Dodinâs passion for food is on full display throughout, but the romantic side of the film is frustratingly kept at a low simmer. Dodin Bouffant (played by Benoît Magimel), though a renowned gourmet chef, employs Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), a cook who matches Dodinâs skills and who Dodin has fallen in love with over time, the duo having spent 20 years together.Â
A Film All About Food
You know a film is going to be all about food when the characters are eating breakfast while simultaneously preparing another, far bigger meal to serve to guests later. Thatâs what happens in the first 15 minutes, which is a flurry of clanging pots, crackling flames, sizzling beef and steaming vegetables. Â
The sequence is dazzling. Dodin, Eugénie, Dodinâs live-in maid Violette (Galatéa Bellugi) and Violetteâs visiting niece Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire) prepare several dishes, crossing paths, pulling out massive pots and pans, cutting and stirring, at moments threatening to collide with each other in a disaster of splashed boiling water or a shower of perfectly chopped onions. But instead of chaos itâs a harmony of movement, a culinary ballet of sorts. And as the camera swoops in on every morsel, you can practically smell all those garden fresh vegetables, salted meats and fragrant spices wafting from the screen.
After the dynamics of this scene, the film settles into Dodinâs daily life, a life he tries to keep low-key, enjoying meals and socializing with his four close friends by day and at night knocking on Eugénieâs bedroom door, hoping sheâll ask him in so they can spend the night together.
Commenting on a Marriage of Convenience
The scenes between Dodin and Eugénie are the weakest part of the film. The two seem to be in love, but itâs a love of convenience. Both of them are in what Eugénie calls âThe Autumn of their yearsâ and theyâve lived together so long, why not be in love just to stave off loneliness?
Whereâs the passion between them? If the two showed as much fire towards each other as they do for the meals they prepare, the film would have truly been magical. Instead, their interactions always seem cold and business-like. Even when Dodin asks Eugénie to marry him (which he apparently has done numerous times previously), itâs like heâs asking Eugénie to join him on a trip to the grocery store rather than to be his wife. Â
Ultimately Comes up Short
The movie just didnât captivate me after that first 15 minutes. I feel 30 minutes (at least) should have been trimmed from the film. There wasnât enough story to justify that excruciating run-time. It was basically porn for foodies, lethargic scenes that drive the story along abruptly switching to flashy scenes of Dodin and/or Eugénie cooking, and those cooking sequences were wonderful. I would have loved more backstory on Dodin and Eugénie, how they first met and what excites them (other than food, of course). We learn very little about them throughout the film.
Ultimately, “The Taste of Things” offers no food for the soul, but itâll sure make you want to head to the nearest restaurant once itâs over.
Currently, “The Taste of Things” is only playing in theaters.Â
