Les saveurs du Palais

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.

Les Saveurs du Palais is for those who like their dramas without the drama - it offers some insight to French internal politics, but much more, it is simply a charming way to celebrate la cuisine francaise.

A gentle, well-made drama-comedy based on the real-life experiences of Danièle Delpeuch who really was Mitterand's cook - this fictional account places heavy emphasis on the food and takes us on a journey to the heart of the French cuisine - perfection and simplicity. The film starts on Antartica's Crozen Island and through flashbacks we see how the president's personal cook, fictinally named, Hortense Laborie, ended up there.

Catherine Frot has become one of France's best actresses for dramas that require a still, calm, composed center, with the hint that passion is simmering under the surface - her slightly bemused but determined trademark style makes this film work - it is a wonderful solo performance - and she is in every scene - and she brings a delicacy to the role that makes the film a delight to watch.

Not surprisingly perhaps the film lacks a little when it comes to conflict and drama - there is good drama - but, it is rather a look into the Champs Elysée and its internal workings. A strong supporting cast, particularly her young sous-chef (Arthur Dupont), who is rapidly becoming a name in French cinema, and the President (Novelist Jean D'Ormesson - who is a superb and prolific biographer but is not a professional career actor). Director Christian Vincent makes great use of permission to film in and around the president's palace and like the food the two settings, the Champs Elysée and in Antartica's Crozen Island lift the film.

Overall, this is a charming, and interesting take on food and it's place throughout French society - it is well worth your time.

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)

The subject is OK and unfamiliar and 'Scope Eastmancolor production values are handsome - the close-ups of food are near obscenely gorgeous.

Catharine Frot and the cast (largely unfamiliar abroad, even with Hipolyte Gyradot in there) impress though the eighty five year old TV personality fronting as President of the French Republic does seem a bit too fragile and we have to wonder about the accent of the Australian TV reporter pursuing Catharine. The Elysses Palace and the remote Iceland expedition are intriguingly shown.

However we are left wanting the revelation, which they build up cross cutting the two situations, and it never arrives, stopping this from being more than a pleasant enough offering for the LADIES IN LAVENDER audience.

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.