The term “comfort food” is a phrase often spoken in many different areas, not just related to food itself. Within the cinephile community, the phrase “comfort food film” has been attributed to one that becomes a go-to when times are tough and a pick-me-up is required. But what happens when comfort food and cinema meet? The Taste of Things, formally The Pot-au-Feu, is bestowed at our table to feast on.
Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things is a tender love letter to the power of exquisite cuisine, love, and the careful intimacy it takes to succeed in both. A combination of ingredients comes together to give the 61st annual New York Film Festival one of the most touching and grounded works of 2023.
The Taste of Things follows the partnership and relationship of Dodin Bouffant and Eugénie. Sharing 20 years of collaboration, the duo creates recipes and meals using ingredients from nearby farms and their garden. While Eugénie is content with their relationship, Dodin is a hopeless romantic who longs for a marriage with Eugénie who often compares a potential marriage to a new recipe with a delicious meal upon completion.
Writer/director Tran Anh Hung’s screenplay welcomes you to the kitchen with one of the year’s most inspired and sublime openings. A 30-minute sequence shows Eugénie cooking an entire meal from start to finish. While it may come off as monotonous to some, I was thoroughly entranced, which led to not just an appreciation for the cuisine at hand but an excellent entry point to Dodin and Eugénie’s relationship.
While comparisons are sure to be made between Barbette’s Feast and Big Night, Hung’s script carefully weaves through the cooking and the meals to illuminate the importance of a bond. They are effectively transferring one’s attention from the food on a plate to the electric chemistry between Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel.
Both offering beautiful performances, the duo conveys the love they’ve grown to share over the years for each other and their partnership in the kitchen. The moments Jonathan Ricquebourg’s stunning camera work elevates the two share. Nothing is more potent than a shot spiraling through winter, spring, summer, and autumn as the two in conversation compare to different seasons.
The Taste of Things is an ideal recipe for the artistic process and love. It encapsulates what brings two individuals together and how that bond grows throughout time. Beautifully capturing the importance of connection, Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things is one of 2023’s most savory feasts.
