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".
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ( Blu-ray ) (1971)
4.4/10
Director: Mel Stuart
Starring: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole
One of the most memorably strange children's films ever made, equally influenced by the dark underpinnings of Roald Dahl's original book ("Charlie and... Read more
Ratatouille ( Blu-ray ) (2007)
8/10
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Will Arnett, Brian Dennehy, Janeane Garofalo, Brad Garrett, Ian Holm, Voices Of,...
Remy is a scrawny sewer rat with big dreams. He longs to follow in the footsteps of his hero, master chef Auguste Gusteau, whose elegant French restau... Read more
Rope (1948)
8/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger
One of Hitchcock's most daring experiments in suspense and long takes. Farley Granger and John Dall are the two friends who strangle a classmate for i... Read more
Pie in the Sky: A Second Helping (1995)
7.6/10
Starring: Richard Griffiths, Maggie Steed, Malcolm Sinclair
Tales of crime and culinary wizardry are interwoven in this drama series about a reluctant detective whose dream of turning restauranteur could be jus... Read more
Pie in the Sky: Series 3 (1996)
5.8/10
Starring: Richard Griffiths, Maggie Steed, Malcolm Sinclair
Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) continues to balance life as a part-time policeman with his duties as a part-time chef. Having opened a restaurant wi... Read more
Eating Raoul (1982)
6.8/10
Director: Paul Bartel
Starring: Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Robert Beltran
Characterized as a 'dextrous, beautifully timed, macabre comedy of manners which tackles kinky sex, economics, gourmet cooking, modern marriage, and e... Read more
Hunger for the Wild: Series 1 (2006)
Director: Peter Young
Starring: Steve Logan, Alister Brown
Steve Logan and Al Brown share a love for fishing, hunting and the great outdoors. They also run one of New Zealand's best fine-dining restaurants, Lo... Read more
Julie and Julia ( Blu-ray ) (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
Cowspiracy (2015)
8.3/10
Director: Kip Anderson
Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing enviro... Read more
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
7.9/10
Director: George A Romero
Starring: Russell Streiner, Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones
The trailblazing horror masterpiece that brought George Romero into the forefront as a master of the genre. 'Night of the Living Dead' is the tense st... Read more