Movies and food

[Kikujiro]

What kind of food do you eat after you see a movie? During a movie? If you watch a movie at home?

For example, if I see a Taiwanese film, in which characters are inevitably eating throughout and there's a rice cooker on every table, I usually crave Chinese food of some kind. Some of my favourite Taiwanese films involving rice cookers are those directed by Tsai Ming-liang, particularly The River and Vive l'amour. These and his other major movies all feature his regular actors, including the fantastic young actor Lee Kang-sheng. Tsai, oddly, was actually born in Malaysia.

One of my favourite movies of all time is Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now, starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, and based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier. Funnilly enough, although it's set in Venice, fish and seafood play almost no part in the film; the only significant meal is, I believe, based around chicken. Next year will be the 30th anniversary of Don't Look Now; I hope this event gets the attention it deserves.

The only film I know to incorporate a recipe in the credits is Martin Scorsese's documentary about his parents, Italianamerican. Of course, food is a major element in many key films about Italian-American life in general, as well as specifically mafia films; think of the garlic-slicing scene in GoodFellas. I haven't seen Gangs of New York yet; it doesn't open in the UK until mid-January. When I have done, I'm sure I will be curious to know what other people thought of it. I did see The Age of Innocence at the world premiere screening during the Venice festival, with Giorgio Armani among others, after which I believe I ate a sandwich.

The food at the Film Café at the National Film Theatre in London is execrable. Nevertheles I have seen many important films there, including major retrospectives of Fassbinder and Mizoguchi. The Bergman retrospective starts in the new year. I am not yet a big Bergman fan, but I hope to get a chance to reevaluate his work. As far as I am aware, Wild Strawberries is the only Bergman film with food in the title.

Another filmmaker I admire is Werner Herzog. I have seen nearly all Herzog's features and a large number of his documentaries. One Herzog film I have never seen is his debut feature, Even Dwarfs Started Small. It was once playing in a double bill with Cobra Verde, a minor film in my opinion, but I had to leave the cinema before Even Dwarfs ... started because I felt lightheaded. Later it turned out I was suffering from dehydration, so for a while I cut out caffeine and drank loads of Snapple lemonade.

[Jinmyo]

Can you watch Tampopo and not get up and make some ramen?

[Kikujiro]

Jin, yes, because Tampopo always convinces me my ramen won't be good enough. Raw egg, on the other hand, is a must.

On the subject of Tsai Ming-liang, I should mention that for a while it seemed like his recent movie, What Time Is It Over There?, was not going to get a UK release, so I saw it in Paris when a family member kindly invited me to Guy Savoy. At Guy Savoy I ate soup and some kind of game bird. The food was excellent, particularly the soup. The next day I saw What Time Is It Over There?. Despite the fact that my French is worse than mediocre, I was able to cope with the Mandarin dialogue and French subtitles, as dialogue does not feature strongly in Tsai's films. WTIIOT seems to me an elegant continuation of the themes he has been developing in his previous movies, but with a lighter touch and more humour. Whether you find this an improvement on the trauma his characters invariably experience in the former films is a matter of taste, but it strongly merits at least one viewing. The film is about death and separation, and takes place in both Taipei and Paris, which made watching it in Paris particularly interesting. Afterwards I was meant to get the Eurostar home but a suicide on the tracks caused train cancellations, so I was stuck in Paris and had langoustines, frites and a half-bottle of Sancerre at La Coupole.

Ironically enough, WTIIOT did get a UK release after all, and I saw it there a second time with a friend, after which we ate mediocre Chinese food at Poons because it was one of few places open at that time of night.

[Lord Michael Lewis]

One of my favourite movies of all time is Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now,

There is a major shagging scene in this movie where Christie and Sutherland's veins bulge threateningly. And if one looks very carefully you can just get a glimpse of a small dish of salty looking peanuts on the bedside table.

[Simon Majumdar]

Years ago, I saw Moonstuck where a number of scenes were in an old style Italian American restaurant ( Arthur Ave, I suspect ) for days after, I craved Old School trat style Italian and ended up going to a place at the bottom of the Charing Cross Rd which is now long gone. We ate Pasta in unfeasibly red sauce, Baby Chicken in Roasemary and Chestnut Sauce and, for pudding, Zabaglione. We drank a bottle of Chianti wrapped in rafia ( natch )

Stangely, it all worked rather well.

All those old style trats have died out now ( haven't they? ) I wonder who buys all the oversized pepper grinders now?

S

[Steebles]

"Big Night" always leaves me ravenous.

I noticed WTIIOT is on DVD now.

[Kikujiro]

There is a major shagging scene in this movie where Christie and Sutherland's veins bulge threateningly. And if one looks very carefully you can just get a glimpse of a small dish of salty looking peanuts on the bedside table.

In fact this scene precedes dinner, which is postponed be their prolonged and energetic coupling, so one imagines they are quite hungry by the time they actually eat, especially as if memory serves me right the hotel restaurant then turns out to be closed.

Sutherland's character licks the toothpaste off the corner of his mouth, which probably acts like an amuse and stimulates his appetite.

[Lord Michael Lewis]

There is a major shagging scene in this movie where Christie and Sutherland's veins bulge threateningly. And if one looks very carefully you can just get a glimpse of a small dish of salty looking peanuts on the bedside table.

In fact this scene precedes dinner, which is postponed be their prolonged and energetic coupling, so one imagines they are quite hungry by the time they actually eat, especially as if memory serves me right the hotel restaurant then turns out to be closed.

Sutherland's character licks the toothpaste off the corner of his mouth, which probably acts like an amuse and stimulates his appetite.

Indeed, the toothpaste may have been fake movie toothpaste and the peanuts were certainly fake movie peanuts as was the entire bedroom, but rumour has it that Christie and Sutherland used their own genitalia in that scene. Rumour also has it that throughout the filming of the movie the director Nic Roeg and many of the cast and crew were sitting down to three square meals a day.

[g.johnson]

The film I have most enjoyed (if that’s the right word) recently is Lynn Ramsay’s Ratcatcher, set in Glasgow during a (real) binmen’s strike when rubbish was piling up in the streets. Story of a young boy who accidentally drowns his best friend in the first scene. It gets more depressing from there. It’s like a Ken Loach movie with Tarkovsky as the cinematographer. Quite startling. A lot of drinking and there may have been a fish supper involved.

[hollywood]

Isn't there a place in SF (called Foreign Film or something) where you can eat and watch movies? Meanwhile, Monkeymay's about to open CineSpace in LA where you can do same. See deets on California board.

[Suzanne F]

And here in NYC there's The Screening Room, which has some decent food.

I think the SF place is Foreign Cinema.

[Kikujiro]

The film I have most enjoyed (if that’s the right word) recently is Lynn Ramsay’s Ratcatcher

Ramsay's second movie, Morvern Callar, based on the novel by Alan Warner, is a stunningly assured cinematic work, particularly for a British film, of which too many are mired in the literary tradition. On the other hand, the characterisation seemed to me fairly banal. The eponymous character is a young woman living in Scotland. As the movie begins, we see that her boyfriend has killed herself; he has left a novel which she eventually submits to publishers in her own name. Significantly, he kills himself in the kitchen, where later in the movie a frozen pizza is heated for too long and ends up burned.

Edited December 31, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)

[Simon Majumdar]

I have pondered on organising a UK Egullet afternoon at The Curzon ( which you can hire for private parties ) to watch the Apu trilogy ( or at least the first one ) my favourite films, to be followed by supper at Mela

Would anyone be interested?

S

[Jason Perlow]

"Big Night" always leaves me ravenous.

I noticed WTIIOT is on DVD now.

Unquestionably it is THE food movie, the one which makes me crave Italian for a good week after watching scenes from it.

Besides the Timpano scene in Big Night, I'm also a big fan of the scene in Goodfellas where Henry is doing a voice over, and they are all packed in that little prison dormitory and Paulie is frying up sausages and steak.

INT: DORMITORY, LEWISBERG FEDERAL PRISON

CLOSE UP: GARLIC

HENRY: VO

Dinner was always a big thing, we had a pasta course and then meat or fish. Paulie did the prep work. He was doing a year for contempt and he had a system for doing garlic. He used a razor and he sliced it so thin it used to liquify in the pan with a little oil.

CUT TO: HOTPLATE

with a pot full of meatballs and tomato sauce being stirred.

HENRY: VO, CONTD

Vinnie was in charge of the tomato sauce. I felt he put in too many onions, but it was a good sauce anyway.

CUT TO: FRYING PAN

With smoking steaks.

HENRY: VO, CONTD

Johnny Dio did the meat. We didnt have a broiler, so Johnny did everything in pans. He smelled up the joint something awful and the hacks used to die.

CUT TO: HOT PLATE

hooked up by long extension cord to an electric outlet in the toilet. There are huge kitchen knives, a block of ice in a tin pail covered with cloth and large pots and  colanders for cooking pasta dishes.

PULL BACK to a large dorm with four beds separated by shoulder-height partitions. The room does not look like a prison. There are curtains over the bars. The room is filled with smoke from the pan fried steak.

CUT TO:

HENRY,

in grey prison garb, carrying a heavy canvas mail sack marked "LEWISBURG PRISON". He dumps the sack on one of the beds.

HENRY, VO, CONTD.

We lived alone. We owned the joint. Even those hacks who we couldn't bribe would never rat on the guys who did.

CUT TO:

HENRY

opens the sack on his bed and pulls out bottles of wine, scotch and brandy, and holds them aloft.

HENRY (looking for praise)

Nice? Good?

VARIO (looking up from his garlic surgery)

Okay. What else?

WE SEE Henry reach in the sack and pull out cheeses, dried sausages, a large jar of vinegar peppers and dried mushrooms.

VARIO (CONTD)

Now we eat.

[hollywood]

And here in NYC there's The Screening Room, which has some decent food.

I think the SF place is Foreign Cinema.

Does it work? The food and film thing.

There used to be an art house in Dallas called The Festival where you could get beers and leers.

[g.johnson]

Ramsay's second movie, Morvern Callar, based on the novel by Alan Warner, is a stunningly assured cinematic work, particularly for a British film, of which too many are mired in the literary tradition.

We're planning to see Morvern Callar in the new year. It's showing at Cinema Village, opposite Strip House and just down the street from Gotham Bar and Grill.

[Kikujiro]

I have pondered on organising a UK Egullet afternoon at The Curzon ( which you can hire for private parties ) to watch the Apu trilogy ( or at least the first one ) my favourite films, to be followed by supper at Mela

Would anyone be interested?

S

Simon, yes. I've never seen the Apu films and would love the opportunity. I did, however, see Kanchenjungha in the Hong Kong film festival once. I was tired and don't think I ate anything afterwards. On the other hand, I had a very good Sichuan meal there after watching A Few Good Men at the UA cinema in Pacific Place. A very mediocre film, I thought.

Do you know how many people we will need to make this an affordable exercise? (We'd be occupying a screen for quite a while.)

Edited December 31, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)

[Lord Michael Lewis]

On the subject of food, John Malkovich is an actor whose work I particularly detest, in fact the only thing I detest more is John Malkovich in person.

Still, what can you expect from someone who is rumoured to drink pork pies in vinegar?

[Wilfrid]

The geezer in Bad Manners used to swear by that, didn't he?

[Lord Michael Lewis]

Whatever happened to hamburger-loving director John Landis?

[Simon Majumdar]

I have pondered on organising a UK Egullet afternoon at The Curzon ( which you can hire for private parties ) to watch the Apu trilogy ( or at least the first one ) my favourite films, to be followed by supper at Mela

Would anyone be interested?

S

Simon, yes. I've never seen the Apu films and would love the opportunity. I did, however, see Kanchenjungha in the Hong Kong film festival once. I was tired and don't think I ate anything afterwards. On the other hand, I had a very good Sichuan meal there after watching A Few Good Men at the UA cinema in Pacific Place. A very mediocre film, I thought.

Do you know how many people we will need to make this an affordable exercise? (We'd be occupying a screen for quite a while.)

I will find out.

They also have a private screening room at No1 The Aldwych and any number of places in Wardour St.

I can get access to a print of the films at cost for the day, so I would hope it would be possible if enough people are interested in seeing these masterpieces and then have some decent Indian food

I will put a post on the UK board

S

[Simon Majumdar]

Whatever happened to hamburger-loving director John Landis?

Not sure, but after seeing The Blues Brothers 2000, I think he switched to Turkey

S

[hollywood]

Whatever happened to hamburger-loving director John Landis?

Since you ask, he made something called Susan's Plan with Nastassja Kinski. See you next Wednesday.

[201]

Firstly, many thanks to Kikujiro for my new favorite thread!!

Now then, on topic... I once saw a terrible film called Vertical Limit in a Florida theater which had been converted into a dining room. Basically, the seats had been ripped out and tables/counters had replaced them. It was a very interesting experience, but not one which I would desire while viewing a film in which I have actual interest. Waitresses showing up with refills throughout a superbly beautiful film such as Maboroshi no hikari would fill me with sadness even as they filled my glass with Sprite.

Of course, Yumiko, the main character in Maboroshi no hikari, is no stranger to sadness herself. In fact, the film is an exploration of her struggles with grief and healing. Surprisingly, director Hirokazu Kore-eda conveys the mood of this film more with beautiful cinematography than with, say, actors eating rice. I found it odd, because I've often heard that rice is a key way to avoid depression following the loss of a loved one. I guess that's because eating rice makes one feel like one is on vacation?

RE: The screening room. I haven't been there myself, but I don't believe they serve the meal during the actual screening. Can anyone comment on that? I really would like to hear whether this theater is worth visiting as they occassionally show films which I would like to view, but I've been put off by the dinner aspect.

[hollywood]

RE: The screening room.  I haven't been there myself, but I don't believe they serve the meal during the actual screening.  Can anyone comment on that?

Reportedly, there was once something called Smellovision, where various smells were released in the theater to coordinate with the film. More recently, I've heard of scratch and sniff cards being handed out. But what if you could be eating what the characters on the screen were having simultaneously? Are some appetites best left unsatisfied (until the film is over)?