5 cult films featuring gastronomy

Since its invention by Louis and Auguste Lumière in 1895, gastronomy has been present on the silver screen, mainly in the form of cream tarts twirling up to the faces of Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy.to the faces of Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy, but directors soon took a more serious interest in the subject, drawing on it for historical and even political themes. Throughout his career, Louis de Funès has never ceased to combine gastronomy and cinema. In 1956, he infiltrated the black market in La Traversée de Paris. Ten years later, he was at the helm of Le Grand Restaurant during the Trente Glorieuses, and the following decade, he denounced the excesses of food industrialization in L'Aile ou la cuisse. A moment of convivial or stormy exchange, the meal is often the subject of cult scenes: the mythical dinner in Subway, in which Isabelle Adjani is corrosively outspoken, and the dinner in Trop belle pour toi, magnified by subtle sequence shots, moving between past and present. Sometimes, directors devote an entire film to the subject, as evidenced by this heterogeneous selection, mixing all genres.

The most literary: The Passion of Dodin Bouffant by Trần Anh Hùng

©StephanieBranchu

Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel star in La Passion de Dodin Bouffant, based on Marcel Rouff's famous 1924 novel La Vie et la passion de Dodin-Bouffant gourmet. Presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2023, the film walked away with the Prix de la mise en scène. When it comes to gastronomy, Trần Anh Hùng is no novice: the Vietnamese-born French director made a name for himself with L'odeur de la papaye verte, winner of the César for best first film in 1994. Today, cuisine is at the heart of his subject, so he called on Pierre Gagnaire to the rescue to help him in the kitchen. But don't be surprised if you bump into him on screen, the chef also plays a small role.
▶ In theaters November 8, 2023

The cutest: Brad Bird's Ratatouille

Pixar Studios' eighth animated film, Ratatouille is still considered one of its best, at least by foodies. The story takes place in Paris. After a few adventures, the hero Remy, a rat of course, finds himself in the kitchens of top chef Auguste Gusteau, named after Auguste Escoffier and inspired by the life of Bernard Loiseau. Other references to French culture are notable: Colette Tatou, the only female cook in the restaurant's brigade, evokes Hélène Darroze, and the redoubtable gastronomic critic Anton Ego takes on the features of the actor Louis Jouvet. Access to the democratization of haute cuisine, Ratatouille proves to be a subtle broth of fantasy, for young and old alike!
▶ In theaters July 8, 2007

Most acidic: La Grande Bouffe by Marco Ferreri

Indigestible to some, jouissif to others, La Grande Bouffe, starring Marcello Mastroianni, Philippe Noiret and Michel Piccoli, caused such a scandal when it was released in 1973 that it was banned for viewers under 18, although this is no longer the case today. Ferreri's corrosive satire is as much a searing critique of consumer society as it is a depiction of the "right-thinking" bourgeoisie, highlighting its vices and contradictions. Although all the dishes for the orgies were concocted by Fauchon, this gritty farce may spoil your appetite, but could well "firm up" your brain!
▶ In theaters May 20, 1973

The one that smells most like terroir: Babette's Feast by Gabriel Axel

Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988, Le Festin de Babette is set in the 19th century, in a small Lutheran village in Jutland, Denmark, where Babette (Stéphane Audran) has taken refuge from the civil war of the Paris Commune. After winning the lottery, the young woman organizes a French-style feast for twelve guests, including those who took her in. They are unanimously overwhelmed by her perfect mastery, but that's hardly surprising - in her other life, Babette was the chef at the Café Anglais. For the purposes of the film, it was obviously not Stéphane Audran but Jan Cocotte-Pedersen, at that time chef at La Cocotte restaurant in Copenhagen, who took to the stove. In the short story on which the film is based, author Karen Blixen doesn't reveal any recipes, so the chef had to redouble his imagination to invent his own, based on the ingredients she does mention. His recipes have since been published and are a great success!
▶ Released March 23, 1988

Most comical: Le Grand Restaurant by Jacques Besnard

Gastronomy and Louis de Funès: a long history of good taste. In the actor's culinary filmography, some may remember La soupe au choux (cabbage soup), which on closer inspection is much more political than it seems, but Louis de Funès also starred in a dozen or so films with a culinary theme. The best? Probably Le Grand Restaurant, for which he co-wrote the screenplay. In it, the actor marvelously plays M. Septime, the owner of a large Parisian establishment who is as tyrannical with his brigade as he is obsequious with his customers. Full of burlesque twists and turns, the film offers an admittedly caricatured vision of the world of gastronomy, but one that's fair enough.
▶ Released in September 1996