1. Eat Drink Man Woman. A semi-retired chef in Taiwan cooks elaborate family meals to express the love for his daughters that he can’t articulate in language. Lovely, with luscious-looking Chinese feasts. Another excellent food film, also by famed director Ang Lee: The Wedding Banquet.
2. Like Water for Chocolate. Based on the popular novel by Mexican writer Laura Esquival, this film centers around the struggle to find love and freedom from family tradition. Tita’s desires are channeled into the food she cooks, investing those who eat it with her powerful emotions.
3. Babette's Feast. A refugee from violence in France arrives to live with two elderly sisters and the remnants of their father’s congregation, in this Danish film adapted from a story by Isak Dineson. After fourteen years as the cook, Babette wins a lottery and uses her winnings to thank her hosts with an extravagant French meal that connects the diners in a mystical celebration of gratitude and nurturing.
4. Big Night. Brothers Primo and Secundo, partners in an Italian restaurant, are near bankruptcy when their competitor agrees to help them by arranging for Louis Prima to dine at the restaurant, thereby drawing in crowds. The brothers invite dozens of friends for the big night, spending hour after hour and all their available cash planning a magnificent dinner in one last hope of fulfilling their American Dream. Great cast, including Stanley Tucci, Tony Shaloub, Isabella Rosellini, and Minnie Driver.
5. Tampopo. A truck driver decides to help a widow turn her roadside noodle stand into the ultimate fast-food success, in this Japanes film billed as “the first noodle Western.” The main narrative and numerous subplots, all highlingting the importance of food, play with the associations between food and sex and deftly use food as a metaphor for both the joys and trials of life.
Honorable Mention, dessert category: Chocolat. Have a box of gourmet treats handy before you pop this one in the DVD player.
1 comment:
oooh, nice!
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