"The Taste of Things" - Film Review
The Taste of Things is a simple film. It’s about a famous restaurant owner, Dodin (Benoît Magimel), and his personal chef, Eugenie (Juliette Binoche). They’ve spent twenty years together working closely in a kitchen, and romance has blossomed between them in a restrained way. Dodin has spent many of those years asking Eugenie if she would marry him, but she’s always enjoyed her freedom too much to say yes. After all these years, Dodin decides to do something he’s never done before: cook for Eugenie.
There’s something about the movie that feels too modern. Perhaps it’s the digital cameras that lack the beautiful, warm grain of film. Or maybe it’s the way cooking is presented, even though the first fifteen minutes are spent in the kitchen watching the house prepare for a multi-course dinner. Despite the significant amount of labor that goes into this meal, the presentation and the editing take away from the labor of love that is cooking. Like filmmaking, any beautifully realized dish is a miracle. So many things need to go right in a specific way, and one minor mishap can ruin everything.
courtesy of IFC films
While The Taste of Things understands the laborious nature of the art of cooking, there’s a fear of letting the audience linger in the monotony of it. In the prolonged amount of time one must stand over a hot stove to ensure that the sauce is perfect. Much of the film takes place during the process of cooking, but it’s more like the cooking that’s done on Food Network shows, where a mostly-finished version of the dish exists just off camera, waiting to be swapped in for the finale shot. For as much as these characters have built their lives around cooking, it’s their interpersonal connection that rings truest. The central relationship of Eugenie and Dodin is built on a love for food. It’s a monumental moment for Dodin to finally cook for Eugenie, but this moment is missing the soft, mushy heart to really sell it.
It’s hard not to think of The Bear when discussing The Taste of Things. Both are recent works about people who love food and who cannot articulate their deepest emotions, so they cook. In one of the final episodes in the latest season of The Bear, everyone is running around trying to get the restaurant ready for opening day. A very pregnant Natalie (Abby Elliott) is starving, so Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) tells Natalie to go put her feet up and Sydney will make something for Natalie to eat. It’s a simple omelet with crushed potato chips as the garnish. This short scene from The Bear has a greater understanding of how cooking is its own love language than The Taste of Things.
courtesy of IFC films
Even if the love isn’t evident in the way Eugenie and Dodin cook for each other, the performances of Binoche and Magimel are divine. Is there ever a time when Binoche is not utterly magnetic? When it’s Eugenie and Dodin, quietly and thoughtfully expressing how they feel about each other, The Taste of Things is at its best. These characters have known each other for so long, and yet there’s so much still unsaid between them. It’s that sort of limbo that makes the central relationship compelling.
The Taste of Things is technically marvelous. The kitchen is beautifully lit and feels like an ecosystem of its own. An entire world exists within the four walls of that room. Binoche, Magimel, and the sparse supporting cast breathe life into the (mostly) single-setting set-up. The film is so easy to sink into, but it’s missing the heartiness that could make The Taste of Things ultimately fulfilling.
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