*** Opening Night film at the Film House ***
Tràn Anh Hùng’s (The Scent of Green Papaya) lush gastronomy-themed romance, starring Juliet Binoche and Benoît Magimel won best director at Cannes Film Festival this year and is competing with Anatomy of a Fall for France’s submissions to the 2024 Academy Awards. This sensorial film, set in late-19th century France, opens with a mouthwatering cooking sequence that runs nearly 40 minutes and portrays a slow-burning romance with a minimalist plot. Yet, Hùng, best known for his Cannes Camera d’or-winner The Scent of Green Papaya, tells Variety: “What was important to me was not to make a film about gastronomy. It was more about the filmmaking challenge that gastronomy presented. The idea was to weave gastronomy into a love story and see how a man and a woman who share the same passion for the culinary art and have lived together for over 25 years form this spiritual bond. I wanted to choreograph the cooking in a cinematic way so that it would become magnificent, like a ballet.” As Travis Weedon, a VTIFF programmer wrote: “A romance of such delicacy and sumptuousness is a rare specimen these days. Every frame, from the first to the last, bespeaks care and affection.” VTIFF programmer Holly Cluse noted: “Sensual, delicious, mesmerizing. the last sentence of dialogue — perfect. Can’t wait to see it again with Charles…” ~OY