The Taste of Things

1885: “The Napoleon of the culinary arts,” Dodin Bouffaunt (Benoit Magimel) is the most renowned gourmand in France, although he would be the first to credit his beloved cook, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), who makes even his most whimsical conceits sing. Their partnership runs deep; it’s practical, intimate, intuitive, romantic… He’s asked her to marry him many times, she always demurs. But they’re both getting older, perhaps it is time to try again…

Thirty years after his debut feature The Scent of Green Papaya won the Camera d’or at Cannes, Tran Anh Hùng won the Best Director prize at this year’s festival with another delectable movie destined to join Babette’s Feast, Chocolat and Big Night on those lists of great foodie films. The Taste of Things (formerly The Pot-au-Feu) s so beautifully composed you can almost taste it: the mise-en-scene evokes Impressionist paintings, but the camera is agile and alive to the energy and dynamics of the kitchen. And for all its attention to process, the film reveals that this is itself a sublime consummation.

The Taste of Things feels like a return to the very best kind of comfort viewing, a work that nourishes the soul and whets the appetite.

Leslie Felperin, The Financial Times

A love letter to food and cooking; to what it feels like to sip a soup that is reminiscent of a sonata’s development ; to the sensual nature of food; to the simple joy of making something side-by-side with a loved one.

Moira McDonald, Seattle Times

At the center of everything good in the world is a bittersweet kernel: All things pass away. The grandest cathedral, the most vibrant painting, a beautiful harmony, a perfect aperitif — none of it will last forever. And all great love stories end, one way or another, in sadness. This will break your heart if you think about it very long, as much with grief as joy. Yet somehow it’s also what makes life worth living. This conundrum lies at the heart of The Taste of Things, a magnificent culinary romance from the French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung.

Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times