Food in Film
Food has often been essential to cinema. A catalyst which brings people together, it can be used for dramatic confrontation, as a comic device or even a metaphor for the meaning of life. Preparing, presenting and consuming food can evoke a mood that is sumptuous, homely, seductive, disgusting or just plain funny. Eloquent in conveying complex messages, food is a perfect vehicle for expressing the subtext in drama and comedy and for revealing intricate aspects about class, emotional states or gender. Sometimes, as in the movies "Babette's Feast" and "Tampopo", it is the real star. In this compilation below, we take the high ground and take a wide view of the social and symbolic meaning of food in film..
Right: Scene from Gabriel Axel's triumphant "Babette's Feast".
Goodfellas ( Blu-ray ) (1990)
8.7/10
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Martin Scorsese's violent true-life gangster epic which follows Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) as he rises through the ranks of the Mafia. Upon turning FBI i... Read more
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)
7.8/10
Director: Stanley Kramer
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are unforgettable as perplexed parents in this landmark 1967 movie about mixed marriage. Joanna (Katharine Houghto... Read more
Tom Jones (1963)
6.7/10
Director: Tony Richardson
Starring: Albert Finney, Hugh Griffith, Susannah York, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood, Diane...
A magnificent adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel about the bawdy exploits of a rustic playboy in 18th Century England. Spirited performances and ima... Read more
Julie and Julia (2009)
Director: Nora Ephron
Starring: Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Linda Emond, Amy Adams, Chris Messina
A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life in the true stories of how Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) life and cook... Read more
The Secret of the Grain (2007)
7.4/10
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Starring: Alice Houri, Hafsia Herzi, Abdelhamid Aktouche, Habib Boufares, Faridah Benkheta...
Aka 'Couscous'. The winner of four Cesar awards, including Best Picture and Director, Abdellatif Kechiche's 'The Secret of the Grain' is a stirring dr... Read more
La Grande Bouffe (1973)
7.2/10
Director: Marco Ferreri
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli
Four men, bored with everything in life, decide to end it all in one impeccably well catered marathon assault on their systems in this chilling, humou... Read more
Mystic Pizza (1988)
6.2/10
Director: Donald Petrie
Starring: Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor
The comedy that takes a bite out of the seaside resort of Mystic, Connecticut, home to three young waitresses who decide their futures look as appetis... Read more
Diner (1982)
7.2/10
Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly, Ellen...
Nostalgic, funny, personal memoir of a group of young men in their early 20's, hanging out at their favourite diner in Baltimore, 1959. This was the t... Read more
Mondovino (2004)
7.1/10
Director: Jonathan Nossiter
An epic and fascinating documentary tracing the effects of globalisation on the world's wine regions, from France to Argentina to the Napa Valley. Fi... Read more
Burnt (2015)
6.6/10
Director: John Wells
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Bruhl, Matthew Rhys, Uma Thurman,...
Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) had it all and lost it. A two-star Michelin rockstar with the bad habits to match, the former enfant terrible of th... Read more