In France, a robust appetite is seen as a virtue, if not a heroic trait. Eating gratifies all the senses: We inhale the aroma of a handsome dish, savor the sound of a sizzling steak or crave the crunch of a crusty baguette. To fully appreciate the various sensory dimensions of a fine French meal is to express a sophisticated artistic judgment.
“The Taste of Things” by the director Tran Anh Hung is a 19th-century French romance powered by this understanding of food’s transcendence. The film opened in theaters Wednesday in France and will play at New York’s Museum of Modern Art on Nov. 10 before its Oscar-qualifying run in mid-December.
The film revolves around a distinguished gourmand, Dodin, and his preternaturally gifted chef, Eugénie. They live together in the French countryside and together concoct lavish meals for themselves and Dodin’s coterie of foodie friends. Their lives entirely revolve around the cultivation and creation of these dishes, which Hung emphasizes through long, elaborate cooking scenes.
Reviews of the film in France have been mixed. Some critics found its blissful atmosphere and absence of dramatic tension perplexing and boring, while others noted that it also comments on the assault of junk food and globalization on French standards.
The French film industry leaders have embraced the gourmand label. This year, “The Taste of Things” was selected as the French submission for the Oscar’s best international film category.
The film indulges in debates and discussions about French cuisine traditions, the impact of political instability on the cultivation of food and the joy of dining. It also draws comparisons between fine dining to certain kinds of art.
But “The Taste of Things” is not just about the food—it transcends to encompass the passion for another person, depicted with a hypnotic warmth. When Binoche’s Eugénie is laboring away on a buttery risotto or a vegetable omelet, it is a sense memory of something deliciously intimate, like being held tight or a loved one’s scent.