THE TASTE OF THINGS
FRANCE
Director: Trần Anh Hùng
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel
Genre: Love, Drama, Gastronomy
134 minutes: French with English subtitles- 2023
Rating: 10-12PG
Set in France in 1889, the film follows the life of Dodin Bouffant as a gourmet chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
The simmering passions of this love story are wrapped around a classic retort to the modern foodie films that shout at us from flickering tv screens. Here the patient and precise crafting of 19th century cuisine is set against dreamy French countrysides and with the music created by the simple sound of kitchen utensils. Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel are in brilliant form as Eugénie and Dodin. Trần Anh Hùng won the Best Director prize at Cannes for this work, which went on to be France’s submission to the 2024 Academy Awards.
Trần Anh Hùng masterfully crafts a gastronomic romance destined to be a modern classic.
Julian Roman, MovieWeb
With the food appeal practically crashing through the screen, it’s the ultimate foodie delight.
Alex Bentley, CultureMap
A symphony of touch and taste and unhurried heaven.
Ray Pride, Newcity
It’s the chemistry between former partners Binoche and Magimel that makes the film a sensory feast to send hearts fluttering as well as stomachs rumbling.
Max Copeman, Radio Times
A visual treat with incisive commentary on late nineteenth-century French aristocracy.
Diane Carson, KDHX St. Louis
Tran Anh Hung’s luminous The Taste of Things belongs among the great food films of cinema.
Loren King, Newport This Week (RI)
