CINEMA CUBE - 3 days of the best food cinema and the best in international street food all on the banks of the river Thames.
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FRI-27th 12:00pm
EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAINProd: Li-Kong Hsu/ Dir: Ang Lee/ Cast:Tao Chu, Sihung Lung,Mrs. Liang: Ah-Leh Gua/ Samuel Goldwyn Company/ 124 minutes/ 1994
Tao Chu is a widower, dictatorial father, and master chef. His taste buds no longer work and he relies on his assistant Wen to tell him whether a dish is eye-watering or mouth-watering. All three of his daughters still live at home, much to their dismay. Jia-Jen his eldest daughter is a schoolteacher and seems quite content to stay at home. Jia-Chen his second daughter has just sunk all of her money in an apartment so that she can move out; she is a successful executive at an airline. Jia-Ning is his youngest daughter and works at a Wendy's. Every Sunday Chu insists that they sit down for a Sunday dinner. Jia-Chen describes them as their "Sunday torture." Despite the anger that fills their house they all love one another and care for each other deeply. They "communicate by eating"; indeed the dinner table is the only place where they truly communicate. With the words "I have an announcement," Jia-Ning tells him that she is moving in with her boyfriend because they are in love, but "mostly because I am carrying his baby." Later in the film while Chu is cutting up a dish with a hatchet, Jia-Jen says, "I have an announcement," and proceeds to tell everyone that she is married. She then runs outside and drags in her new husband. The camera pans to a hilarious scene in which Chu is just staring at the husband while holding a hatchet. No matter what happens in this family, the dinner table is where they connect and share their feelings.
This is a wonderful food movie: spectacular meals and food scenes are always just moments away in this film. While the opening credits appear the viewer is treated to watching Chu beginning to prepare a Sunday dinner. He keeps live fish in a clay jar so that they are fresh; he also raises his own chickens. Something as simple as cutting vegetables is turned into art. Watching him pull out Peking duck is almost unbearable to watch if there is no food around. This film will also leave you craving dumplings, something that he fixes at almost all of his Sunday dinners. In another scene Jia-Chen and her friend are drinking tea. First she pours boiling water into a pitcher containing tea leaves, after a minute she then pours the tea into her cup but leaves the small tea pot resting in her cup for a minute to drain. It is this attention to detail that makes this movie a wonderful food film. The plot is much better than A WALK IN THE CLOUDS; however, it can not quite rival BIG NIGHT for substance, but it is still well written. The only other film that rivals the preparation, presentation, and consumption of food is BABETTE'S FEAST.
This is a wonderful food movie: spectacular meals and food scenes are always just moments away in this film. While the opening credits appear the viewer is treated to watching Chu beginning to prepare a Sunday dinner. He keeps live fish in a clay jar so that they are fresh; he also raises his own chickens. Something as simple as cutting vegetables is turned into art. Watching him pull out Peking duck is almost unbearable to watch if there is no food around. This film will also leave you craving dumplings, something that he fixes at almost all of his Sunday dinners. In another scene Jia-Chen and her friend are drinking tea. First she pours boiling water into a pitcher containing tea leaves, after a minute she then pours the tea into her cup but leaves the small tea pot resting in her cup for a minute to drain. It is this attention to detail that makes this movie a wonderful food film. The plot is much better than A WALK IN THE CLOUDS; however, it can not quite rival BIG NIGHT for substance, but it is still well written. The only other film that rivals the preparation, presentation, and consumption of food is BABETTE'S FEAST.
In an early scene, Master Chef Chu (Sihung Lung) takes little neighbour Shanshan her lunch box at elementary school with her favourite bitter melon soup--but it's in the final scene that his critical taste for soup shows his recovered zest for life: _______________________________________________
SUN -29th 20:00pm
BABETTE'S FEAST/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAINDir: Gabriel Axel/ Prods: Just Betzer and Bo Christensen/ Scrn: Gabriel Axel/ Danish and French with English subtitles/ 102 mins/ 1987
Gabriel Axel's adaptation of an Isak Dinesen story contrasts the sumptuous cuisine of Anna Karina's former Parisian chef with the simple asceticism of the nuns whom she serves. Here, potential excess and gluttony are sublimated into sacrifice and sacrament. Blessed are the frugal, Axel implies, for they shall be rewarded by an ultimate feast.
The preparation of the meal is magnificent, the photography is wonderful, all the shots of the live quails and sea turtle show just what a feast the two elderly sisters will be treated to. The shots of the dough being cut and shaped and the quail being plucked are wonderful. The real visual feast is at the table as the guests start their meal. The soup is real turtle and the finest wines and champagnes are served. The dinner scene is hilarious as the people begin to enjoy the meal despite their solemn vow not to. The next course includes Blinis Demidoff and lasts only a short time as the guests devour it. One particularly funny scene involves a pious elderly woman; she takes a sip of palate-cleansing water and grimaces with disappointment when she realizes it is just water and proceeds to rapidly drink some more wine instead. In between courses their glasses are filled with fine wines. The next dish is Babette's specialty, Cailles en Sarcophage (quail). Every dish served at this feast is a masterpiece and leaves the viewer craving food. This film is a classic, _____________________________________
The preparation of the meal is magnificent, the photography is wonderful, all the shots of the live quails and sea turtle show just what a feast the two elderly sisters will be treated to. The shots of the dough being cut and shaped and the quail being plucked are wonderful. The real visual feast is at the table as the guests start their meal. The soup is real turtle and the finest wines and champagnes are served. The dinner scene is hilarious as the people begin to enjoy the meal despite their solemn vow not to. The next course includes Blinis Demidoff and lasts only a short time as the guests devour it. One particularly funny scene involves a pious elderly woman; she takes a sip of palate-cleansing water and grimaces with disappointment when she realizes it is just water and proceeds to rapidly drink some more wine instead. In between courses their glasses are filled with fine wines. The next dish is Babette's specialty, Cailles en Sarcophage (quail). Every dish served at this feast is a masterpiece and leaves the viewer craving food. This film is a classic, _____________________________________
SAT-28th 17:30pm
FESTEN/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAIN
Dir: Thomas Vinterberg/Denmark/1998/106mins/sub-titles
A beautiful country mansion, lavish interiors and a party of well-to-do guests gathered around an elegantly-laid dinner table. It’s the perfect setting to celebrate the 60th birthday of prosperous patriarch Helge Klingenfeldt.
But the ordered social ritual of eating and speech making is shattered by the intimate revelations of prodigal son Christian, who has returned to Denmark from Paris to attend the family reunion. This black comedy of manners has a raw edge derived from the Dogme style of film making, which insists on 35mm format hand-held cameras, shooting only with available natural light, no added music or sound, no props, no make-up and no costumes.
The Dogme manifesto was drawn up in 1995 by a collective of Danish directors, including Vinterberg and Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves), as a reaction against the conventional heavy-handed ‘literary’ genre of Danish cinematic conventions.
“Dogme is about escaping mediocrity, renewal, challenge and integrity to the characters and settings,” explains the 29-year-old director. The result is a disorientating and immediate naturalism which catapults you into an emotionally excruciating drama, in which the reactions of the guests are as compelling as the story which unfolds.
But the ordered social ritual of eating and speech making is shattered by the intimate revelations of prodigal son Christian, who has returned to Denmark from Paris to attend the family reunion. This black comedy of manners has a raw edge derived from the Dogme style of film making, which insists on 35mm format hand-held cameras, shooting only with available natural light, no added music or sound, no props, no make-up and no costumes.
The Dogme manifesto was drawn up in 1995 by a collective of Danish directors, including Vinterberg and Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves), as a reaction against the conventional heavy-handed ‘literary’ genre of Danish cinematic conventions.
“Dogme is about escaping mediocrity, renewal, challenge and integrity to the characters and settings,” explains the 29-year-old director. The result is a disorientating and immediate naturalism which catapults you into an emotionally excruciating drama, in which the reactions of the guests are as compelling as the story which unfolds.
Once again, it goes to prove that low-budget movies - can be front-runners. _______________________________________________
SAT-28th 20:00pm _______________________________________________
SUN-29th 12:00pm
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAINDir: Jon Avnet/ Prods: Jon Avnet and Jordan Kerner/ Screenplay: Fannie Flag and Carol Sobieske/Based on the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café by Fannie Flag/ 1992/ 130 mins
The 1930s story of two lifelong friends, Idgie and Ruth, is retold during the 1990s. The elderly Ninny Threadgoode tells their story to Evelyn Couch. Couch becomes entranced by their story and continues to visit Ninny Threadgoode in a nursing home so that she may learn more. Threadgood's stories about the two strong-willed women inspire Couch to become more assertive in her life. The stories focus on the early adult years of Idgie and Ruth. Ruth befriends Idgie and tries to get her to be more respectable. However, Idgie also manages to get Ruth to enjoy life more. Troubles start for the two when Ruth marries. Unfortunately, her husband's violent temper soon leads to his battering Ruth. Idgie manages to convince Ruth to leave him and the two found the Whistlestop Café.
While most of this film revolves around the two women's friendship, there are plenty of small moments when one gets to see presumably mouth-watering food. Also, there are many food scenes at the Whistle Stop Café. In the first few moments one is treated to short clips of food laid out for a wedding meal. However the best scenes involve Idgie trying out a recipe for fried green tomatoes, this soon devolves into a food fight between Idgie and Ruth which eventually results in the town sheriff getting frosting smeared all over his face and shirt. The barbecued ribs that are served to the detective also appear mouth-watering until you learn their origin (yes, this charming story of friendship among women involves cannibalism). The meals that are prepared by Evelyn Couch are also quite appetizing; one meal is fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and later they consist of tofu. The food moments in this film are relatively few but there are sufficient shots to make this a good food film.
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SUN-29th 14:30pm _______________________________________________
FRI-27th 14:30pm
KITCHEN STORIES/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAIN
Dir: Bent Hamer/ Written by: Bent Hamer, Jörgen Bergmark/ With: Bjørn Floberg, Joachim Calmeyer, Tomas Norströ/ Norway, Sweden/ 2003/ 95 mins/ ICA Projects
Did you know that on average a 1950s Swedish housewife walked the equivalent distance from Sweden to Congo each year whilst carrying out her kitchen chores, and that by simply organising herself along assembly line principles she could significantly reduce this amount? This kind of clinical rationalisation, which is gently lampooned in Kitchen Stories, was typical of post-war organisations which looked to science as the solution to everything. Set in 50s Norway, Kitchen Stories sees a fleet of observers from the Swedish Home Research Institute descend on the rural enclave of Landstad to observe the kitchen routines of single men, whose habits apparently yield vital information on how best to calibrate inefficiency in the home. Thus the scene is set for the humorous interplay between one uptight observer and his more rustic subject. Director Hamer is a confident comedian, and his visual humour carries this curious story along. Part satire on social control and part humorous fable about friendship, Kitchen Stories also offers a distinctly absurdist vision of the aesthetics and ideologies of the time. If one colour were to evoke the 50s it would be that kind of optimistic yet strangely clinical green, so prevalent in civic crockery and domestic bathrooms. And of course, this is the hue of the somehow otherworldly egg-shaped caravans which descend on Landstad.
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FRI-27th 20:00pm
DELICATESSEN/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAIN
Dir: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet/ Wr:Gilles Adrien, Marc Caro/ France/ 1991
In a ravaged French city - possibly in a post-holocaust future, possibly an alternate 1950s - daily life trundles on, and a very French group of apartment tenants concentrate on a very French set of concerns : adultery, suicide, music and, most of all, food. The butcher (Dreyfus) who owns the block has developed a system to support his tenants by hiring odd-job men whom he fattens up and finally turns into tasty meats that usefully supplement the lentils that have taken over as hard currency in the starving city.
The only people who remain untouched by this meat-eater's corruption are the butcher's saintly daughter (Clapet), a wistful but myopic cellist, and the old man (Howard Vernon) in the cellar who has turned his home into a watery swamp to support the two essentials of French cuisine, frogs and snails. Into this tidily unhappy world comes Louison (Pinon), an ex-clown still grieving over the death of his monkey, whose good-natured decency moves Clapet to betray the cannibals to the subterranean revolutionaries, and who upsets the whole people-eating system.
While Delicatessen has a few bizarro precedents - Eraserhead, Brazil, Life On The Edge, The Last Battle - it is a delightfully original picture, poised perfectly between farce and horror. The sinister undertones of much recent French cinema comes out in the open in this mainly bloodless but conceptually gruesome item, which presents a cross-section of society stuck together in the crumbling apartment block and lampoons them all, from the senile brothers who manufacture moo-cow novelties to the rich woman whose elaborate suicide attempts consistently backfire. Pinon, best remembered as the bald punk assassin in Diva, is a quizzically charming hero, wandering around in his clown shoes and resourcefully doing his best to stand by his gutsy but fragile ladylove in a nightmare climax that finds them both on the run from the cleaver-wielding butcher.
The Jeunet et Caro team have hitherto worked exclusively in short films, and this is their first feature. They have traces of the style-consciousness of their compatriots Luc Besson and Jean-Jacques Beneix, but they also resurrect some of the light, albeit deep black, touch of Jacques Tati and have an unusal facility, perhaps derived from French cinema's great Jean Renoir, to love all their characters, no matter how horrid they may be. A fair bet for cult-dom, and a lot more
The only people who remain untouched by this meat-eater's corruption are the butcher's saintly daughter (Clapet), a wistful but myopic cellist, and the old man (Howard Vernon) in the cellar who has turned his home into a watery swamp to support the two essentials of French cuisine, frogs and snails. Into this tidily unhappy world comes Louison (Pinon), an ex-clown still grieving over the death of his monkey, whose good-natured decency moves Clapet to betray the cannibals to the subterranean revolutionaries, and who upsets the whole people-eating system.
While Delicatessen has a few bizarro precedents - Eraserhead, Brazil, Life On The Edge, The Last Battle - it is a delightfully original picture, poised perfectly between farce and horror. The sinister undertones of much recent French cinema comes out in the open in this mainly bloodless but conceptually gruesome item, which presents a cross-section of society stuck together in the crumbling apartment block and lampoons them all, from the senile brothers who manufacture moo-cow novelties to the rich woman whose elaborate suicide attempts consistently backfire. Pinon, best remembered as the bald punk assassin in Diva, is a quizzically charming hero, wandering around in his clown shoes and resourcefully doing his best to stand by his gutsy but fragile ladylove in a nightmare climax that finds them both on the run from the cleaver-wielding butcher.
The Jeunet et Caro team have hitherto worked exclusively in short films, and this is their first feature. They have traces of the style-consciousness of their compatriots Luc Besson and Jean-Jacques Beneix, but they also resurrect some of the light, albeit deep black, touch of Jacques Tati and have an unusal facility, perhaps derived from French cinema's great Jean Renoir, to love all their characters, no matter how horrid they may be. A fair bet for cult-dom, and a lot more
likeable than its subject matter suggests. Essential viewing for vegetarians. _______________________________________________
SUN-29th 17:30pm _______________________________________________
SAT-28th 14:30pm
BIG NIGHT/ FOOD FILMS/ FILM MAIN
Producer: Jonathan Filley/ Directors: Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci/ 1996/ 107 mins
During the 1950s, two immigrant Italian brothers, Primo and Secondo are trying to face the difficulties of running a restaurant. Primo is a master chef who serves culinary delights every night. The only problem is that frequently there is no one to serve food to. The two brothers are lucky if anyone even shows up to eat, since the diners all expect standard Italian-American food and not gourmet fare. When someone does decide to dine at their restaurant, Paradise, Secondo is forced to cope with his brother's artistic temperament. When one woman orders risotto and is dismayed that it doesn't come with spaghetti, she orders it on the side; Secondo goes into the kitchen to ask Primo to prepare a side of spaghetti. Instead of preparing it Primo becomes enraged that she would dare to eat two different starches with her meal. The neighbouring Italian restaurant owned by Secondo's friend Pascal is filled every night, but the food that is served there is strictly meatballs and spaghetti. Desperate to keep their restaurant open Secondo asks Pascal for a loan; instead Pascal promises to get the famous singer Louis Prima to eat at Secondo's restaurant, in the hope that the celebrity's dining there will put it on the map. The brothers invest all they have in the anticipated "big night."
As preparations begin for the big night with Louis Prima the food takes the starring role. The preparation of the timpani is a wonderful sight to behold. The pasta is hand-made and rolled and everything is put into an enormous pot with the care of a surgeon. Finally when the two brothers decide to serve the timpani they carefully remove the lid and turn the pot upside down, like a cake. Then before Primo cuts it he lightly feels the timpani and cocks his head as if he can hear the timpani. Watching everyone eat the magnificent feast is no less exciting than watching it being prepared. After eating the feast that Primo prepared everyone is exhausted, one woman tearfully exclaims, "My mother was a terrible cook!" In the final moments of the film we are also treated to a wonderful scene in which the two brothers wordlessly eat a simple omelette. Big Night is truly a food film; without the food there is no movie. There are too many food scenes to list all of them. It is also worthy to note that not once will you see spaghetti or meatballs in Primo's kitchen.
___________________________________________________As preparations begin for the big night with Louis Prima the food takes the starring role. The preparation of the timpani is a wonderful sight to behold. The pasta is hand-made and rolled and everything is put into an enormous pot with the care of a surgeon. Finally when the two brothers decide to serve the timpani they carefully remove the lid and turn the pot upside down, like a cake. Then before Primo cuts it he lightly feels the timpani and cocks his head as if he can hear the timpani. Watching everyone eat the magnificent feast is no less exciting than watching it being prepared. After eating the feast that Primo prepared everyone is exhausted, one woman tearfully exclaims, "My mother was a terrible cook!" In the final moments of the film we are also treated to a wonderful scene in which the two brothers wordlessly eat a simple omelette. Big Night is truly a food film; without the food there is no movie. There are too many food scenes to list all of them. It is also worthy to note that not once will you see spaghetti or meatballs in Primo's kitchen.
