This week we're serving up a feast of films with culinary elements
by Amber Wilkinson
RatatouillePhoto: Disney Pixar
Whatever you're celebrating at this time of the year, there's a good chance that it will involve a lot of food - from turkeys to latkes and trout to sweeties from a stocking. Food is also never far away at the cinema either, from sweet treats like Chocolat to tales of real-life culinary expertise like El Bulli: Cooking In Progress and A Matter Of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt.
So this week we're serving up a selection of tasty culinary films to stream at home once you've managed to escape the heat of your own kitchen - bon appetit!
Just because you're small doesn't mean you can't have big ambitions and, as the recent The Amazing Maurice has shown, rats also have a tendency to get a bad rap. In this case, Remy is a rat with big culinary dreams who after being separated from his family ends up in the city. When Remy soups up, well, a soup, and the credit goes to Linguini, the kid who takes out the rubbish, the stage is set for an unlikely friendship and a lot of decent comic capering. Brad Bird has always excelled at keeping the emotional level of his films simmering nicely and here there is everything from a romantic interest to a power-mad food critic to contend with. Patton Oswald is an excellent choice for Remy's vocals alongside Lou Romano's Linguini, while Peter O'Toole is tremendous as the villain of the piece.
Babette's Feast, Curzon at Home, Apple TV and other platforms
Babette's Feast
Jennie Kermode writes: In a harsh landscape, in a strict religious community whose people have long prided themselves on their ability to go without, an act of generosity repaid sees food take on an almost spiritual meaning. Babette (Stéphane Audran) is a refugee taken in by two lonely, ageing sisters who employ her as their cook. When she unexpectedly inherits money she has only one wish as to how to spend it: she wants to cook a feast for the whole community, shipping in exotic ingredients and demonstrating the real skill she possesses. This is traditional European food at its finest, a magnificent banquet which is gorgeously photographed by cinematographer Henning Kristiansen, but the love which goes into its preparation is equally beguiling, and seeing the suspicion on conservative villagers' faces turn to joy when they taste it is a delight.
There's a cherry pie sweetness and just a hint of tart realism to this tale of waitress Jenna (Keri Russell), who makes up recipes to suit her mood, including, upon discovering she is pregnant to her unpleasant spouse Earl (Jeremy Sisto), I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie. Going through with the pregnancy - and writing periodic letters to her unborn child - she embarks on an affair with her obstetrician (Nathan Fillion), making some tempting, and not so tempting, sounding pie fillings as she goes. This may not sound like the ingredients for a comedy, but it is and it has a message as wholesome as Mom's apple pie - although you might want to make sure you have a slice of that pie in the house before you watch as it might well make you crave one. Tragically, director Adrienne Shelly was never able to enjoy the success of this sweet crowd-pleaser, as she was murdered before it had its premiere. The non-profit foundation set up in her name continues to support female filmmakers.
Jennie Kermode writes: Japan is famed for its masters of weaponry, but what many outsiders don't realise is that the same ethos behind this - the notion that it takes a lifetime of devotion and daily practice to become truly good at something - also applies in other areas of life. At 97, Jiro Ono is perhaps the country's most admired sushi sensei. This documentary captured him at 85, after a mere 70 years of 17 hour days spent perfecting his skills, but what you see will astonish you. He's a fascinating character, brilliant, wry-humoured yet humble, a believer in the power of simplicity. David Gelb's careful framing showcases food which you can almost taste and which you will find yourself longing for. There is a poetry to the film, which is in equal part a celebration of cooking as art. It will leave you with a quiet sense of awe.
Flux Gourmet, Apple TV, Google Play and other platforms
Flux GourmetPhoto: Courtesy of KVIFF
Off-the-wall cookery meets absurdist comedy in Peter Strickland's latest sensory onslaught. The story revolves around culinary star Elle di Elle (Fatma Mohamed) who has arrived at a culinary institute for a three-month residency with her acolytes-cum-bandmates Billy Rubin (Asa Butterflied) and Lamina Propria (Ariane Labed) in tow. The group use their cookery to make music, all under the imperious eye of Jan Stevens (Gwendoline Christie in an assortment of remarkable costumes). Their ''journey'' is being documented by Stones (Makis Papadimitriou), a Greek journalist with extreme flatulence. On the one hand this is all a bit daft, but Strickland knows how to turn on the style to cook up something that is nothing if not unique.
Jennie Kermode writes: The relationship between food and love is explored through a number of intertwined stories in this comedic, sensual and sometimes satirical Japanese comedy of manners. It all revolves around a humble ramen shop where a trucker with a passion for the culinary arts decides on an impulse to stop his roaming and help a struggling young widow turn her business around. Aided by her young son, they gradually transform the place; meanwhile we mean gangsters, a teacher of European etiquette, a pretentious businessman who imagines himself as a gastronome, and many more curious characters, as well as discovering the proper way to eat noodles and learning an ill-advised alternative to the Heimlich manoeuvre. Director Jûzô Itami is an enthusiastic cook himself, and it's visible in every little detail onscreen.
Anyone who has ever tried to cook a festive dinner knows how stressful a kitchen can be even in a domestic setting. And a restaurant kitchen becomes a cauldron of stress and bad judgement in Phillip Brabantini's single-take tale of a single night's dinner service at a posh eatery. Stephen Graham is stressed even before he arrives at work courtesy of a phone conversation with his estranged wife. An unexpected visit from a hygiene inspector adds to his woes and the tension ratchetts from there, as Brabantini uses the single-shot technique to drive on the action. Graham puts in a gripping performance at the film's heart with great support from Vinette Robinson as his second in command and Jason Flemyng as a TV cook with an agenda.
We're returning to Pixar for this week's short. Bao sees a woman get a second shot at motherhood when one of her handmade dumplings springs to life. The film is written and directed by Domee Shi, who went on to write and direct the studio's coming-of-age tale Turning Red.
