Juliette Binoche wants to talk about more than just food. It's a minimal glance, a silent nod, but I notice it as we talk in the Hollywood hills in early January about his latest film, “The Flavor of Things” (in theaters Friday), a gorgeous drama set in France . in the late 1880s about a gourmet and his chef.
Because of its culinary trappings, the film has inspired praise such as “sumptuous” and “delicious,” but Binoche takes the opportunity to delve into the deeper metaphors embedded in the exquisite meals his character cooks. For her, “The Taste of Things” is not about food. It's about life, art, and how we choose to show up in the world.
“Standing out is the passion of any artist,” says the Oscar winner. “For me, during the film, cooking was like painting: it would be the same. Many times we do things without thinking about it, without getting involved. Suddenly, when it becomes significant, it is useful.”
Director Tran Anh Hung is on the wavelength of his star. “These characters talked about food, that was interesting, but I wanted to make a film about marital love,” he says quietly. “People who have lived together for a long time, who still have that desire, this mutual respect, fully accept their age and enjoy it very much.”
Director Tran Anh Hung, photographed in the Hollywood Hills in January.
(Yuri Hasegawa / For The Times)
Based on Marcel Rouff's 1924 novel “The Life and Passion of Dodin-Bouffant, Gourmet,” Hung decided to create a prequel of sorts. In the book, the esteemed chef Eugénie, luminously played by Binoche on screen, dies in the first chapter.
Hung gloriously brings her back to life, with acclaimed César-winning French actor Benoît Magimel playing Dodin, her patron and lover of the past 20 years. Dodin has proposed to her repeatedly, but she always resists, valuing her freedom.
“The Taste of Things,” which won Hung the directing prize at Cannes, chronicles their untraditional and intellectually stimulating romance, allowing the characters' shared love of cooking to be an entry point into deeper discussion. from the movie about commitment and falling rain. every relationship.
Poignantly, “The Taste of Things” is also about two off-screen love stories: one that lasted and one that didn't.
The film is dedicated to Tran Nu Yen Khe, the actress, painter and sculptor who has been Hung's wife for decades. (She starred in her 1993 debut, “The Smell of Green Papaya,” and worked as a costume designer on “The Taste of Things.”) As tempting as it may be to read about Eugénie and Dodin’s push-and-pull marital relationship, , the filmmaker insists that there is no overlap. Still, Hung admits, “I saw that I wrote some dialogues, it's something I already told my wife.”
In a post-screening Q&A later that night, Yen Khe notes that friends have suggested similarities between them and the on-screen couple. “I don't see it,” she says, laughing a lot.
Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in the film “The Taste of Things”.
(Stephanie Branchu/IFC Films)
As for the other off-screen couple? That's a more complicated story. Binoche was an easy cast, a connection Hung first forged on the set of the French star's “Flight of the Red Balloon,” where he had gone to visit director Hou Hsiao-hsien.
“It was just the feeling of listening to each other,” Binoche remembers of that initial meeting. “It didn't matter what we said; it was just a delicate feeling of being in each other's presence and saying that, someday, it would be nice to find something to work on together.”
But who would play his Dodin?
Hung's choice of Magimel created a potential obstacle. Binoche and Magimel had previously starred in the 1999 romantic drama “Children of the Century.” They also began a relationship in real life and had a daughter, Hana, who is now 24 years old. But they broke up about five years later and have rarely been in close contact since.
Juliette Binoche, photographed in the Hollywood Hills in January.
(Yuri Hasegawa / For The Times)
Binoche admits she was anxious about co-starring with her ex. Plus, did she really want to re-litigate an old relationship in the press when it came time to promote the movie? She chose to put those concerns aside.
“I decided to be honest with everything that came to mind,” he says about talking about Magimel in interviews. “I'm learning that you speak from the heart. When I was 20, I felt like I had to hide, that I shouldn't talk about my private feelings, because I wanted to protect something about myself that I thought I should protect. This is ridiculous: just say what you feel. “So I decided that I am going to speak freely about what I am going through.”
It is telling that it is Binoche who mentions Magimel during our conversation. (Visa problems kept him grounded in Paris, even though he was supposed to join us for the interview.) Speaking over Zoom later that day, Magimel confirms his initial nervousness. “I heard he had a little anxiety and I still don't know why,” he says through an interpreter. “I had no anxiety about working with her again. I thought it was wonderful because he would bring something special to the role.”
Whatever your initial nerves, what emerges in “The Taste of Things” is a frayed love story based on mutual admiration and a still-crackling sexual desire. As delicious as Eugénie's concoctions seem, the film's attention remains focused on these two people together in the kitchen, pursuing a dream.
“I like to see men and women working,” says Hung. “We don't try to make beautiful food shots. “It's more about purpose: how these people work with vegetables and meat, and how they transform them.”
Binoche seems moved by her time on set with Magimel. “There's not much communication with him,” she says. “Actually, the only time I spent time with him was during the movie, so it was very happy for me. [It’s not] about conflicts or anything that has happened in the past, but taking it to a place where it is liberating, where you can express love and concern for the other.”
Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche in the film “The Taste of Things”.
(Carole Bethuel / IFC Films)
But then he smiles when he remembers the premiere in Cannes. Binoche turns to Hung: “You were sitting to my left and Benoît's right, so Hung was between us.” Near the end of the movie, Binoche noticed something. “Benoît cried and cried and he couldn't stop crying,” she says satisfied. “[I thought,] 'Oh, he has feelings for me.'”
Has Magimel been made fun of for this? “Of course I took advantage of it,” she responds, laughing.
“Juliette loves to say that I started crying because I was thinking about her,” Magimel confirms during her Zoom interview when I mention the premiere. “The fact that you have a real connection with someone is very helpful. “I think it contributes to performance.”
“The Taste of Things” ultimately becomes a meditation on how we affect the people around us, whether through the meals we have prepared or the lives we have touched. How is a legacy defined?
It's an especially relevant question for artists, but Binoche has come to understand that those things might be better measured by the fans who approach her for an autograph or to thank her for her work.
“I know it's not about me, it's about them, what they recognized through me in them,” he says of those interactions. “He is very liberating. If you think it's about you, you're kidding yourself. They don't ask you for an autograph; They want to make sure the bond they had with you is real. It gives them something warm.”
A movie like “Taste of Things” also gives something to viewers, but it also seems to have given something back to its co-stars. Binoche has conducted interviews with Magimel since the film's debut, and their affectionate and pointed relationship is very evident. She doesn't know what the future of their relationship will be, but she seems hopeful.
“I took it as a gift that you gave us,” he tells Hung of his film, “not just for Benoît and me, but for our daughter and the whole family. When Hana saw it, she really felt like she was healing.”
Binoche thinks about this a little more. “The real illness in our world is when things are stagnant: they are not said, they are not lived, they are not expressed,” he continues. “I felt like in this relationship there was something trapped in him.”
Has your connection with Magimel fallen apart now? “At least I expressed it,” she responds. “That's the main. “I think he knows I love him and I know he loves me.”
“The Taste of Things” ends with them looking into each other's eyes, experiencing a satisfaction forged by time and a shared history. It could be Eugénie and Dodin, it could be Binoche and Magimel. Sometimes performances create new worlds. Sometimes they reveal what has always been there.
