La passion de Dodin Bouffant

Cooking is a huge part of my life. I dream of a kitchen like the one in the movie where everyone could cook together. I also dream on having enough time to have cooking as a lifestyle! I'm the happiest when I'm trying nicely cooked meals. That movie spoke to me in so many levels. The love story, how romantic! The girls helping out, the girls eating the same food as the adults and learning to enjoy it. The style of the filming. Now I wish all cooking tv programs were like that, you watch the magic happening without the nonsense of the narrative from a presenter. I watched in French with Spanish subtitles so I missed some of the storyline and yet, it moved me to tears!

I am, I admit, a Crocodile Dundee cook - you can live on it, but it tastes like s*** Nevertheless, I revere those who are masters in the gastronomic arts.

Set in the 1870's, this film is a hymn to the pleasures of the table. The camera lingers lovingly over every pot and pan, every ingredient, every procedure, to the extent that it would have been wrong for the film to have been in any language but French. Anyone who can watch this film without salivating has no soul.

The plot is secondary to the food. Dodin (Benoit Magimel) is an expert, though amateur cook, whose hobby is hosting dinner-parties for a group of friends. For twenty years, Dodin has employed Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) as his cook, though she's far more than that. They sleep together, though she repeatedly declines his offers of marriage. Both performances are nigh-on perfect. There's also a young girl, the daughter of a neighbour, who has superlative taste-buds, and who wants to be taken on as an apprentice.

There's a bit more plot than that, including a comic dig at those who equate excess with excellence, but everything is subordinate to cooking and eating - and the actors do actually eat the food. One thing that grates with me is films where people don't actually eat the food in front of them.

I left the cinema hungry, and wishing that I had the patience and the dedication (and the time) to cook like that.

Oh, and though I grudgingly accept that, with the possible exception of the Chinese, the French are the finest cooks on Earth, I draw the line at ortolan.

Greetings again from the darkness. I do not cook and have never had an interest in learning to. Still, I do understand how some are drawn to it as an art form ... creating new dishes and new flavors, while generating such pleasurable sensations across the palettes of others. It's a passion like many professions (or hobbies), and it's one that is best shared with others.

This is the first film from writer-director Anh Hung Tron since 2016, and he has adapted the popular novel, "The Passionate Epicure" by Marcel Rouff. An extended opening scene (30 plus minutes) features a camera weaving in and around the activities in a kitchen where a gourmet meal is being prepared. Chit-chat does not occur. These people know their work and go about preparing multiple dishes precisely, meticulously, and expertly. Specific timing is the only thing requiring spoken language. Despite this, we learn much about these folks.

Juliette Binoche (Oscar winner, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, 1996) portrays Eugenie, the cook to gourmet chef Dodin, played by Benoit Magimel. Dodin periodically takes leave to mingle with guests, while Eugenie finds pure joy in her task at hand. Two assistants Violette (Galatea Bellugi) and Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire) work efficiently and quickly. Pauline is young and relatively new to the kitchen, yet she possesses a preternatural taste palette and flavor instincts, while Violette is a long-trusted staffer. As viewers, we are in awe of the precision and coordinated efforts that go into preparing world class dishes.

As the film progresses, we learn Dodin has proposed marriage to Eugenie many times over the years. She has always turned him down, choosing instead their kitchen partnership as well as occasional evening soirees in her room (when the door is unlocked). This arrangement works for her and has made him famous in the culinary world. Love and respect exists between the two, and he worries about her too-frequent fainting spells and light-hearted moments. Their conversation one evening after work tells us all we (and they) need to know. As for their backstory, given Eugenie's mentorship of Pauline, we can't help but wonder if maybe Dodin had once recognized such rare talent in Eugenie some twenty years past.

This is a film, and these are performances, meant to be savored every bit as much as the dishes we see prepared and the garden Eugenie tends. It's a delicate world that requires precise movements and commitment ... just as any relationship. We can all strive to find the joy and satisfaction on display here, despite knowing that these types of connections will at some point lead to loss.

In theaters on February 14, 2024.

This is an exceptionally slow burn ( only in the allegorical sense , as they don't actually burn any of the food )

The aesthetics are mesmerizing and the presentation of the food was enough to make me hungry, even never having eaten French food in my life and being extremely picky . It was a love letter to food , to cooking , to art , to patience and to a lifestyle that no longer exists .

The natural feeling was amazing as well , these were good people , trustworthy people , people you want happiness for and want to win and that was all developed in the first scene , with no dialogue which is amazing filmmaking .

Another major shout out goes to the sound editing / track . The sound of the garden and the kitchen felt so real and added to your closeness so the characters , their lives and the food itself .

It's very very slow , it's very foreign , it's an art film and it's meant to develop at a snails pace . Appreciate that . Be ready for that and you'll love it. .

Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel shine in their respective roles as a beautiful cook and her long admiring gourmet lover. The film is a great celebration of food with the first 20 minutes or so being a real feast for the eyes as a sumptuous meal is prepared in intricate detail as we salivate in our seats. This is very skilfully done as with minimal dialogue and accomplished direction we get a deft introduction to the characters involved as they create the mouthwatering dishes. There's a lovely tone to this film which celebrates in equal measure the love between the two lead characters and their shared passion for wonderful food and the lighting and cinematography is exquisite. The sequence where Dodin cooks for Eugiene is a delight as his two great passions come together, not least in the dessert. It was a pleasure to watch this life affirming film though I'd recommend you either eat immediately before it or have food ready immediately after as it will engage your tastebuds. Finally there is a winning performance from Bonnie Chagneau Ravoire as Pauline that is impressive for such a young actress.