THE TASTE OF OTHERS (Les Goutes des Autres)
Have you ever misjudged someone, treated them badly, then felt horrible about it? This and other aspects of the human condition are explored in cowriter/director/star Agnes Jaoui's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee "The Taste of Others."
The film begins by following the seemingly unrelated conversations of two tables of diners. Castella (cowriter Jean-Pierre Bacri, "Place Vendome") is a businessman attempting to sneak a sweet past his controlling wife Angelique (Christiane Millet) while also carrying on a business lunch. At another table, storytelling Franck (Gerard Lanvin) and literal Bruno (Alain Chabat, "French Twist") appear to have little in common until we learn that Franck is Castella's bodyguard and Bruno his driver.
Castella interviews Clara (Anne Alvaro, "Danton") as an English teacher, but dismisses her when she doesn't produce a fun technique. Later, when he's dragged to a stage production of Berenice by his wife (his niece has a small part in the production), Castella is entranced by Clara in the lead role and begins to ardently pursue her, much to her dismay (she needs his English lesson money, but finds him boorish and uneducated). Meanwhile Bruno encounters Manie (Agnes Jaoui) tending the bar at a cafe and she informs him they once slept together. While they aren't successful rekindling the former flame (Bruno can't believe he didn't remember while Manie can't believe she did), Manie begins a relationship with Franck. Manie's also buddies with Clara and the rest of the theatrical troupe customers, closing the circle of the main cast. A subplot, where Angelique forces her interior decorating skills upon her sister-in-law Beatrice (Brigitte Catillon, "Artemisia"), most literally conveys the film's title.
This warm, funny, all too human story is about how people's myopia can lead them astray in their search for happiness. It's an assured, typically French (conversation heavy) piece of work by Jaoui and her costar Bacri. Jaoui gets top notch work from her entire cast. (Oddly, the central characters all resemble American stars with Jaoui herself looking like "Ally McBeal's" Courtney Thorne-Smith, Bacri like "L.A. Law's" Alan Rachins, Clara like Lily Tomlin and Bruno like Peter Riegart.) The film is beautifully editted (Herve de Luze), sometimes for comic effect (Flucky, Angelique's puffball little dog who 'always bites for a good reason,' gambolling about) or to jump across time while one character glides from one encounter to the next.
"The Taste of Others" is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Alvara's final smile is like something out of a constellation while Bruno's mysterious, solitary flute playing is given satisfying closure for both the character and the film. Small moments, even when anticipated (Castella placing his newly purchased modern painting amidst his wife's flowery, fluffy decor), bring large payoffs. "The Taste of Others" is a real treat.
A-
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
laura@reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews