The International Ones
The Lunchbox
Ritesh Batra 2013 feature debut is a very grounded romantic film set in India about a widow (Irrfan Khan) living a dull life until the day he receives the wrong lunchbox filled with delicious flavorful meals. His life is turned upside down as he rediscovers the joy of eating and falls in love with the stranger’s cooking and more. He will form an epistolary relationship with the cook, a Mumbai housewife, first thanking her for the meal, and later on sharing about his life and troubles. The film is well-made and quite moving with its unique poetic mood and the touching human story, but the food is the real highlight. It is presented in a manner that makes viewers yearn for it and almost smell it! One can only wish more movies like The Lunchbox were made.
Sweet Bean
Naomi Kawase is one of the finest directors out there showcasing Japanese culture and sensibility in Cinema, and Sweet Bean might not only be her “sweetest” film, but also her best. The 2015 movie is a beautifully crafted one set near Tokyo about two very different people from two generations brought together through their passion for cooking and delicious dorayaki – traditional red bean pancakes. However, Sweet Bean is much more than about cooking lessons, it is a story exploring a rich tapestry of human emotions, and important themes such as elderly employment, debt, isolation. The film, with its gentle yet luminous light, soft palate and its melancholic poesy, is also a visually pleasing and transports viewers to its world.
Eat Drink Man Woman
Eat Drink Man Woman is a 1994 film by acclaimed Taiwanese director Ang Lee, that is also moving and full of “sense and sensibility”! The intimate story follows a widowed chef and his three daughters throughout a series of events in Taipei. It explores the weight and importance of tradition, changes or modernity, as we learn more about the characters often gathered around a table filled with sumptuous Chinese dishes. It was remade into another food-centric film,2001 Tortilla Soup, swapping Chinese culture and food for Mexican-American.
Ramen Shop
The Singaporean-Japanese-French film by Eric Khoo, released this year, is the freshest one of this list. It is a very modern story about multicultural heritage and acceptance, following a “Third culture kid” of sorts. It is the story of a young ramen chef embarking on a journey between his two parents countries, Singapore and Japan, in order to uncover his past and parents’ relationship. His journey will be one filled with secret recipes and spicy meals shared with a food blogger and newfound family members.
I Am Love
Luca Guadagnino 2009 Milan set Italian “dramatic drama” is the kind of European arty film one might either love and admire, or find pretentious and over-the-top or a mix of the two!. The film is centered on Emma, a Russian bourgeois (Tilda Swinton) immigrant married to a very wealthy Italian man. The couple and their adult children live the most luxurious lives, having parties at their villas filled with Arts, dressed in expensive clothes, and eating specially prepared gastronomic meals delivered by a cohort of staff a-la Downton Abbey! However, as we all know, rich people have first-world-problems, and Emma is terribly bored by her mundane life, but all change when her son becomes a friend with a local young chef. Despite its grandeur and technical qualities, it is very “soapy” with all kinds of family dramas culminating in a grand finale that is “cherry-on-the-cake extravaganza”, and near-preposterous, accompanied by pompous score. The film will certainly be a pleasant one to watch for some, but like some high-end dishes, it might appear bland to others…
Chocolat
Based on a novel of the same name by Joanne Harris, the 2000 flick, also by Hallström was quite a hit, being nominated for multiple awards including Best Picture. It stars among other, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench and its protagonist Juliette Binoche. The latest plays a single mother moving to a small French village with her daughter to open a chocolaterie. However, in this very traditional and conservative place, not everybody is into chocolate! Slowly the residents will start being tempted by the sweet taste of her confections, but sadly, she will encounter many problems along the way but also love.
Like Water For Chocolate
Another film about the “black gold” of food this time set in Mexico, Like Water For Chocolate is a 1992 film by Alfonso Arau. It is the story of Tita and Pedro and their forbidden love. They are from different worlds and their family traditional values make their union impossible, but the passionate lovers will try to find ways despite heartaches and headaches. The melodrama of it all can also be overpowering, but it is a fascinating film to watch as it interestingly incorporates mystical elements of the story and magical surrealism to illustrate the power of cooking.
The Secret of the Grain
This 2007 French film by Franco-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, known for projects that are often polarizing, is quite different in style from most films in this list. It is profoundly grounded in reality and more intense while tackling serious issues affecting an immigrant family from Maghreb in Marseilles. Slimane, the protagonist, is a middle-aged divorced man who leaves behind a hard job at a shipyard in the hope of opening a couscous restaurant. With the help of his daughter, he will try to make this dream come true despite his family opposition, bureaucracy nonsense, prejudices, financial difficulties, or other barriers.
The Trip(s)
Although we mentioned The Trip in our previous list about ‘film-about-film’, the TV show turned full-length features, has food front and center. The Trip (2010), The Trip To Italy (2014), The Trip To Spain (2017) and soon, an iteration in Greece are a series of films by British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon portraying fictional versions of themselves. In the films, the pair are commissioned as food critics to travel around regions tasting all the local specialties at various restaurants. During their many meals, they exchange about private and professional life, juggling between hilarious jokes, recognizable impersonations and deeper conversations about aging or love. Most of the dialogue is improvised which makes it quite fun and genuine, and their love of food and interest in their histories or recipes makes it a fascinating culinary adventure.
Sausage Party
Sausage Party is not your typical cartoon, but for those unafraid of being of bit disturbed by this “uncanny valley of food movie”, or grossed out by, well, the “food porn” visual puns, this 2016 R-rated animated comedy directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon from a story by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Jonah Hill, might be a real treat! It is the kind of comedy that goes for completely bonkers and ridiculous, but the premise about an anthropomorphic sausage existential crisis and the “life of food” in the supermarket a-la Toy Story – makes it all the more fun. It boasts an incredible voice cast featuring its creator and many of their famous industry pals. Not sure why this film about sausage or veggies was so hysterically funny, but it definitely one that delights and/or disgusts viewers as it redefines – or highjacks! – the “food porn” genre.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
This 30 years old film is a surreal and bizarre one featuring food by Peter Greenaway. It is a stylish dark comedy where the action happens mainly in a theatrical restaurant or its kitchen. Shot like a staged piece, or a musical where colors are coordinated in everything, from curtain to jello pudding, the film stars Helen Mirren playing the wife of a gourmet gangster – the “thief” – trying to be with her “lover” with the help of a “cook”. Ultimately, the food in this one might not look so appetizing…but eye-pleasing!
Leave a comment about your favorite foodie film.
