Die Köchin und der Präsident

No one is going to nominate this as one of the 10 greatest movies of x. There is nothing cutting edge here, etc.

It is, however, an interesting story well told and very well acted, especially by Catherine Frot, who seems to do everything well. I've seen it twice now, and never once looked at my watch. It really holds you.

In part, of course, it is because it presents what is now, at least in part, a dying part of traditional French culture: a respect for food in all its potential richness, and a willingness to spend the time necessary to make and appreciate it. The meals that Hortense prepares aren't frou-frou. They don't, as the president says at one point, have little sugar roses on them. It's not how clever it looks.

It's how interesting the mixture of tastes are, an attention to taste and the freshness of ingredients that is necessary for those tastes, that French tradition holds to have been the gift of every good grandmother - NOT of expensive Parisian restaurants.

This could be compared to the wonderful but very American movie *Ratatouille*. Near the end of that, the evil food critic Anton Ego goes into ecstasy over a portion of ratatouille because it evokes the ratatouille that his mother used to make. A pretty simple dish. Not, granted, mac and cheese, but still, not complicated.

The dishes Hortense makes for le président, which repeatedly evoke memories of childhood, are NOT simple. They require both a lot of time and a lot of technique/knowledge regarding their preparation. That French grandmother did not make them in 15 minutes, but rather several hours, or even days for the preparation. It is, in short, a different vision of how grandmother spent her time, one that in each case is, I suspect, filtered through the values of the respective cultures. (TIME and KNOWLEDGE make for good food, vs. love makes for good food.)

I don't know if this all comes through in English subtitles. My copy of the film has no subtitles. But it's definitely worth a viewing. It didn't make me hungry - I can't imagine having access to such meals here in the U.S. - but it did emphasize that, even for a bunch of young Frenchmen such as those at the French base in Antarctica, there is still a respect for time and skill in food preparation that is one of the distinguishing hallmarks of French culture.

Movies and food get on very well, and no doubt "Les saveurs dans le Palais" is no exception. There's a strange magic in movies dealing with cooking and when I come across a movie like this I always feel fascinated and relaxed. In this case the creation of good food is in the hands of Hortense Laborie, who works in the kitchen of the Elysee Palace, but she is able to put the same passion when she is cooking in a South Antartict base. In both settings she shows the same love for food, for looking for good food. Undoubtedly, the most charming part is the one set in the Palace, where we can see, almost smell the fragrance of her dishes, made of highly selected ingredients, although never lacking a home-made touch. And this is the most appealing part of the movie, which for the rest lacks something in terms of psychological insight of the characters. Hortense herself stands up for her passion for food, and indeed cooking is the only means other characters and we as viewers have to get in touch with her. From the beginning till the end she remains mysterious and a little detached from others, always ready to leave when she starts to put down roots. In general, the movie seems too focused on the preparation and the exaltation of wonderful dishes, that everything else seems not to deserve that same attention. But this is a typical feature of movies like this, and also its strong point, I was fascinated by Hortense preparing, and earlier by her describing the recipes, by her naming each ingredient accompanying it with its provenience, and then, of course, by her realizing the recipe as if it were a work of art. In the end, a pleasant picture to see ... and to taste.

Part of the appeal that drew me into beginning to watch this movie was the thought that it may have a bit of a show detailing some of the more eclectic french cuisine. While there was a bit of that, the food was definitely not as big of a character in the picture as I had assumed.

We get to see the side of the main character, Hortense, that is a dedicated chef and detail oriented person. And the real treat of the movie is watching that personality deal with the challenge of being the executive private chef.

Overall, the characters in this movie really make it special. And while the pace of the movie is very even, and almost predictable, it is still a special slice of life type movie that I walked away from uplifted.

In this movie, we follow the steps of a woman chef that is proposed to be the personal cook of the French president. Of course, the main theme is cooking and the movie is an ode to a certain cooking, taking time, carefully selecting ingredients, that denotes personality.

A second interpretative framework is added to that - and makes seeing the film worthwile. We are indeed put in the wings of power. Of course, not the one of the politic advisers,, of the lobbyists, ... But from the kitchen, we can still smell the battles of influence (symbolized by the one with the central kitchen), the reluctance of change (a woman chef?), standardization and optimization against quality and taste (choice of ingredient, nutritionist against the chef cooking, ...), and finally the wear and tear power implies.

Catherine Frot and Arthur Dupont are displaying their talents in this movie (I'm more reserved about Jean d'Ormesson's performance but what else could be expect from him?).

In conclusion, a nice movie, it will not go down in history, but you will spend a nice moment. (A final note: do not watch it hoping to learn about Mitterrand, that is not what you'll get)

I've only seen Catherine Frot in one other movie--Coline Serreau's stunningly complicated CHAOS and she was marvelous. So when HAUTE CUISINE showed up on Netflix, I jumped at it. I love movies about food--WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE?, BIG NIGHT, MOSTLY MARTHA, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, BABETTE'S FEAST. They almost always manage to find humanity, absurdity and gently funny moments associated with food. Based on the real story of the first female chef who comes to cook for President Mitterand at the Elysee Palace, HAUTE CUSINE is a sweetly earnest story of Hortense Laborie, a fine French cook who is pulled away from her truffle farm in France to become the personal chef of the French president. Along the way she will encounter the petty and mean-spirited competition from the all-male kitchen that serves the palace, as she works tirelessly to provide the President with the foods he remembers from his childhood. The story is told in flashbacks as Hortense s finishing up a year-long stint as a cook for a research group in Anartica.

What makes the film work is the casting of Catherine Frot as Hortense. This superb actress gives Hortense a tense, focused and convincing believability. Horrtense arouses total loyalty from her sous chef and maitre'd as the palace personalities around her make life often rather difficult. Losing her calm only once, Frot has a confrontation in the movie that is a very satisfying answer to the pettiness she is surrounded by at the Palace. It is in stark contrast to the grateful affection she is shown by the men she cooks for every day in coldly forbidding Anartica.

HAUTE CUISINE is a quiet film of disarming charm. It doesn't break new ground, but it is a very satisfying movie which Catherine Frot at its center. Some have complained here that is a trifle and I'm not entirely disagreeing, but it is a movie worth seeing. I know I'll be seeing it again.