By Nina Heyn – Your Culture Scout
BABETTE’S FEAST (1987)
Two spinster sisters living in a very religious Danish community in the 19th century do not know any life other than praying and taking their simple meals of bread and water. Into this world comes Babette, a French woman fleeing persecution, who expresses her gratitude for being taken in by cooking a French cuisine feast. Her exquisite dishes awaken the village to the possibility that love and spiritual devotion can be expressed through food as well as prayer.
THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER (1989)
A dark fairy tale about a crime boss, his unfaithful wife, a gentle lover, and a violent murder. Food, sex, and crime mix in this black comedy starring Helen Mirren and other famous Brit actors before they were international stars. This is a daring and violent film, but very characteristic of the European cinema of the period.
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (1992)
Based on an enchanting book by Mexican writer Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate is a story of a strangled love. When a woman is prevented from marrying a man she desires, she starts to express her feelings through exquisite dishes she cooks for the family. She soon discovers that magically she is able to convey her feelings through the dishes she prepares.
CHOCOLAT (2000)
Starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judy Dench, and other audience favorites, this is a story of a small French town transformed by a chocolate maker. Vianne (Binoche) is a single mother whose love of sensuality in food and flesh contradicts the town’s small-mindedness—until her sweet personality and even sweeter chocolates win the community over.
VATEL (2000)
Based on real personages from the court of Louis XIV, this film is the tale of Monsieur Vatel, a maître chef from Prince Condé’s household who was charged with preparing a feast for the visiting king. In France, food is taken very seriously, and when Vatel mistakenly thinks that the dinner will not meet the expected standards, he believes he has only one honorable option. Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, and Gérard Depardieu star.
SIDEWAYS (2004)
This is the movie that put Sonoma and Napa wineries on the international map (the locals have known the secret for 100 years). The dramedy focuses on the value of friendship and the appreciation of wine, but viewers may enjoy the gentle valley views even more. Thanks to Paul Giamatti’s performance, Sideways became a classic road movie for desk-bound folks.
SUPERSIZE ME (2005)
Documentary writer-director Morgan Spurlock wanted to see what would happen if, for one month, he exclusively ate Big Macs three times as day. Halfway through the experiment, his doctors already were concerned about his health. A seminal documentary about the unhealthy food served daily to millions of Americans. A few months after the movie’s release, McDonald’s discontinued the Supersized items on the menu … but it still markets the “Double Big Mac,” with its caloric content intact.
FAST FOOD NATION (2006)
A dramedy about the American food industry by celebrated filmmaker Richard Linklater, who examines the underbelly of industrial meat production and sales.
RATATOUILLE (2007)
Perhaps the best movie about the love of cooking and French cuisine, Ratatouille stars a rat and a dishwashing boy, both of them animated. The Disney classic is a heart-warming story about fulfilling one’s dreams against all odds (rats not being the most popular presence in the kitchen).
JULIE AND JULIA (2009)
Much better than the current documentary about Julia Child, this fictional account—about a contemporary New Yorker who decides to cook all the recipes from the celebrated chef’s first cookbook—is warm, informative, and full of unforgettable cooking moments (“don’t spare the butter!”). Meryl Streep gives a tour-de-force performance as an irrepressible Child who reinvented herself and taught Americans the joy of real French cuisine.
EAT PRAY LOVE (2010)
Julia Roberts stars as a woman who needs to find herself and travels to Italy, India, and Bali to do so, sampling life wisdom and local food along the way. The audience gets to live vicariously through this adventure of traveling and experiencing food all over the world.
THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY (2014)
Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren) is the formidable owner of a traditional, Michelin-starred, restaurant in Provence. When an Indian immigrant family opens their establishment directly across from her, a war of cultures and cuisines ensues. Nothing but a Romeo and Juliet-style romance can calm the waters, and in the meantime, the audience is treated to scenes of creating the best dishes from both cooking traditions.
LE CHEF (2014)
French action movie superstar Jean Reno stars in this comedy as a Michelin-rated chef who loses his moxie, only to regain his élan thanks to an outsider who has talent but fails to keep any job due to his uncompromising attitude toward gastronomy. Together, they embark on an adventure of haute cuisine.
CHEF (2014)
A comedy/drama about a restaurant chef whose family life and job are not working out—until he makes some drastic changes. He leaves his restaurant to run a food truck and starts rebuilding his relationship to food and his family.
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI (2015)
An unforgettable documentary about mastery. In this case, an old Japanese master Jiro celebrates the art of making sushi, but it could have been a story about mastery of any craft—the principles of creativity and intellectual discipline are the same. You will never think of sushi the same way after this poem to perfection.
BURNT (2015)
Bradley Cooper stars as an obsessive professional in the cutthroat restaurant business, competing in the world mecca of food—Paris. Being driven is not enough, and he soon burns out, with a long way to come back. A star-studded, high-energy tale with Sienna Miller, Emma Thompson, Omar Sy, Uma Thurman, Daniel Brühl, and Alicia Vikander.
THE MENU (2022)
If you have a strong stomach and like thrillers, this might be on the menu for you. The setting is a classic one for horror stories—on a remote island, a group of people gather for an exclusive haute cuisine sampling, only to discover that they might end up on the menu themselves. It is a true Hell’s Kitchen.