A review round up of Juliette Binoche’s new film which is out in cinemas now.
The Guardian: **** “Sumptuous, sensual and impossibly handsome, at first glance French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung’s lavish foodie romance The Taste of Things looks like just another decorous prestige period drama. But in its elegantly restrained way, Tran’s film, which is set almost entirely in the kitchen, grounds and dining room of the country chateau of famed gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel) in 1880s France, is every bit as radical and risk-taking as some of the showier, quirkier awards contenders this year (it was France’s submission for this year’s international Oscar category, chosen over Anatomy of a Fall, but failed to make the final list).”
Empire: **** “Vietnamese-French director Trần Anh Hùng has been in foodie territory before with The Scent Of Green Papaya (1993) and knows that an audience needs more than its appetite whetting. So there’s a real romantic frisson between Dodin and Eugénie — made all the more intimate and poignant by the real-life history between Magimel and Binoche (they were previously in a real-life relationship for several years). The status of women, the class structure, and France’s culinary and cultural reputations all come under scrutiny, while generational respect is considered in an intriguing torch-passing subplot involving Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), a farmhand’s daughter with a surprisingly refined palate. Yet, while there’s much to nourish the mind, this is primarily a feast for the eyes.”
The Financial Times: ***** “Food is their love language but this intimate drama becomes a lens through which Tran also explores food history and fashions, the subtle politics of domestic service, the graceful beauty of middle-aged love. All of it permeates every impeccably performed and composed frame of this considered and strangely profound film. Like a great wine, The Taste of Things has a long, lingering finish.”
Roger Ebert.com: *** 1/2 “Tran Anh Hung (“The Scent of Green Papaya”) allows the story to unfold in its own time, in its own way. Nothing is pushed. Nothing is heightened artificially. The devotion to food is both real and metaphor: how we prepare food, the care we take, indicates how we feel for each other. But it’s also the thrill of the preparation in and of itself, all of which the director captures, with essential help from Jonathan Ricquebourg’s cinematography, the camera floating through that kitchen, literally peering into pots to watch the vegetables sizzle.”
BFI.org.uk: “The Taste of Things is a reflection on artists, and the ways in which they communicate through their work, and the peculiar pleasures and anxieties that brings. Asked why she doesn’t share the table with their guests, Eugénie demurs that her cooking is her contribution to the conversation.”
The Telegraph: **** “Tran Anh Hung’s culinary romance is so vividly and lovingly made, you’ll swear you can smell and taste every shot.”
Los Angeles Times: “The rapport between the two leads is extraordinary, and those who know of Binoche and Magimel’s own past romantic history may find themselves especially moved by the tenderness of their on-screen reunion here.”
The Upcoming: ***** “Magimel and Binoche’s chemistry is, as one would expect of two actors with such an intimately shared history, effervescent, with the measured, almost wearied countenance of Eugénie elegantly complementing Dodin’s beguiling charm as the film simmers gently, brewing an endearing blend of fervour and tenderness. Whether its pace threatens to slow to almost stationary will be an opinion of individual taste, but Trần Anh Hùng, as a filmmaker who trusts the audience’s innate comprehension of the ebbs and flows of human experience, imbues The Taste of Things delicately with the tides of the most joyous highs and the most grievous losses.”
The Independent: “There is something rather cruel about releasing a film this lovely and voyeuristic in the dead of February, in which the cinematic gardens are lush, the game is fresh, the atmosphere is tranquil, the distractions are non-existent, the conversations are intellectual and the goal is shared. But maybe that’s why we need movies like this. It’s pure escapism and the cost of the movie ticket is slightly more affordable.”
The List.co.uk: **** “Hùng doesn’t over-saturate the film with plot; this is a work that takes its sweet time to come to the boil. Mostly, you’ll be left salivating at the stunning dishes on show, as the camera prowls around the kitchen. But slowly, through the work of Binoche and Magimel (former partners themselves), emotions come to life, with a story that examines with real tenderness the power of love and importance of time well spent.”