Who doesn’t love a good food-centric movie? While there have been plenty of mouthwatering flicks over the years, with most of them pretty much just following the usual plot of kitchen drama, A Taste of Hunger is still a must-watch if you’re someone who appreciates good gastronomy being featured on screen. A Taste of Hunger stars Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who has surprised everyone with his fluency in Danish. This is no surprise to fans who truly know the actor; he actually is of Danish descent and is a graduate of the Danish National School of Performing Arts. The cast also includes Katrine Greiss-Rosenthal, Charlie Gustafsson, and Nicolas Bro. Described by critics as a definitive “foodie” film, A Taste of Hunger is required watching for anyone who appreciates good food and good cinema. If you’ve just finished A Taste of Hunger and would like to try similar cinematic delicacies, here are five movies that you should add to your list.
The Hundred-Foot Journey
The Hundred-Foot Journey tells the story of an immigrant Indian family who moves to the French countryside to start the region’s first authentic Indian restaurant. The twist: their restaurant sits in front of a renowned, Michelin-star restaurant. The Hundred-Foot Journey stars Helen Mirren and Om Puri as the rivaling restaurateurs. Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon round up the cast. Positively reviewed by critics, The Hundred-Foot Journey has been praised not only for its portrayal of excellent cuisine, but also for its depiction of the harsh realities of immigration. Sadly, Om Puri died in 2017, three years after the movie. Helen Mirren dedicated a message to him upon learning his death, according to Hindustan Times, saying: “I worked with Om only once on the film A Hundred-Foot Journey, however, once met, he was unforgettable. Om Puri was such a great, expansive, life force of a man, he instantly became a great friend. He was a generous, life loving man. He loved to act, he loved to feed people, and above all he loved his country and its culture. My profession will miss an original, and India will miss a great representative.”
Ratatouille
No list of food movies is complete without Ratatouille, one of the greatest animations Pixar has ever produced. The movie tells the story of a rodent with a penchant for good cuisine, expressing his talents through a talentless dishwasher. The movie features excellent voice-acting from Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, and many others. Boasting a whopping 96 percent certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Ratatouille remains to be one of the most-well-received Pixar animations to date. Anupama Chopra of Film Companion reviewed the movie, explaining its appeal that has endeared the movie to many fans even until today: “Ratatouille, a Pixar movie from 2007, is the first film I revisited when I went into social distancing mode. This is a film about a rat who becomes a chef in Paris. But it’s so much more than that. It’s about what a great artist can be, where a great artist can come from, it’s about food and how to savour it. It has one of my favourite fictional characters, Anton Ego, who is a food critic is in this film voiced by Peter O’Toole. The film is visually gorgeous and transports you to Paris and God knows how long it will be before any of us will get to travel again so this is a good way to do it.”
Delicious
If there’s a chicken-soup equivalent of a movie, it’s Delicious. A delightfully created movie, not just depicting French cuisine but quaint French sceneries as well, Delicious stars Gregory Gadebois, Isabelle Carre, Benjamin Lavernhe, and Guillaume de Tonquedec. Rotten Tomatoes writes the movie’s plot as follows: “In 1789 France, just prior to the Revolution, gastronomy is strictly the domain of the aristocrats; indeed, the prestige of a noble house is entirely dependent on the quality and reputation of its table. So, when the talented but prideful cook Manceron (Gadebois) serves an unapproved dish of his own creation at a dinner hosted by the self-entitled Duke of Chamfort (C’est La Vie’s Benjamin Lavernhe), the repercussions are brutal, and he is promptly dismissed. The wounded Manceron swears off his passion and retreats with his son to a regional inn visited only infrequently by travellers, and where vegetable soup is the common meal. But when a mysterious woman (Carré) arrives and offers to pay to become his apprentice, the stage is set for a wildly enjoyable tale of reignited passion, mentorship and revenge… and of the creation of France’s very first restaurant.” If you like a good combination of a cooking movie and a period film, Delicious is the best film for you.
Chef
A movie that turned Jon Favreau into a movie star, Chef is a food-lover’s movie set in a much more humble background: a food truck. Starring Jon Favreau, who also starred and directed the movie, Chef also features the talents of Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara, and John Leguizamo. The plot of the movie is as follows: “After a controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman) pushes him too far, chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quits his position at a prestigious Los Angeles restaurant. As he tries to figure out what his next step should be, he finds himself in Miami.” Rotten Tomatoes has the movie at 87 percent certified fresh. Toronto Sun wrote a glowing review of the movie: “It’s such a treat to see such an endearing slice o’ life in the middle of this blockbuster season. There’s not a single comic book character in sight.”
Julie & Julia
Last on the list is Julie & Julia, a biopic interestingly told from the perspectives of two people: Julia Child, the culinary legend who popularized French cooking in America, and Julie Powell, a New York blogger who attempted to recreate every single recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook. The movie documents both people’s journey towards mastering their craft. A positively reviewed movie, Julie & Julia has been noted for its realistic portrayal not just of the food, but the process behind making them as well.
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