By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Doris Dörrie
Country: germany
Year: 2007
Running time: 94
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0943512/
Michael says: “German feminist filmmaker Doris Dörrie is best known for her narrative features, such as 1985’s MEN, 1988’s ME AND HIM, or 2000’s ENLIGHTENMENT GUARANTEED. It is this latter film that serves as a connection of sorts to her latest film, and first English-language documentary, HOW TO COOK YOUR LIFE. This delightfully entertaining film owes some of its appeal to its subject, Zen priest and cookbook author Edward Espe Brown, who recounts his entry into the cooking world and how he applies the principles of Zen Buddhism to his work. Much of the film is made up of scenes of Brown teaching cooking in a Zen Center in San Francisco. He makes for an amusing subject as he unashamedly discusses his frequent frustrations and annoyances all the while espousing the Buddhist principles of calm and harmony. Yet his brings the teachings to the real world through the act of cooking in a way that is accessible and inspiring.
“Dörrie has a great eye for catching unexpected and amusing scenes that she cleverly edits into the film to underline certain points as Brown is speaking. She also goes on several interesting tangents such as an organic farmer who uses turkey blood as fertilizer, and a woman who doesn’t spend any money on food, but collects it from supermarkets in bins filled with products past their sell-by date. It is during these tangents that Agnes Varda’s superb THE GLEANERS & I came to mind in the way Dörrie inserts herself and her point of view into the film, albeit more subtly than Varda. The playfulness and lack of pretense that fills the film is also reminiscent of GLEANERS, which is high praise as it’s one of my favorite docs. HOW TO COOK YOUR LIFE will be released in Boston in early December and I highly recommend it. It’s sure to be on my long list of nominations
for Best Documentary this year. 4 1/2 cats”
Jason says: “I don’t have a lot to say about this one (conservation of verbiage, I guess, considering how long the next post runs). It’s a documentary with a likable subject in Edward Espe Brown, good intentions and a nice mix of interviews and how-to footage. It’s a lot of fun for fans of the ‘food movie,’ I’ll bet (I did love watching the guy make bread). It’s also kind of limp – the kind of documentary that makes a person feel bad or inferior but doesn’t inspire a matching zeal to improve oneself. I found
myself watching and sort of ruing the packaged food I eat, but not to the point where I can really consider baking my own bread (I just don’t have the time!) or buying into the mumbo-jumbo about connecting with my hands.
“Ah, well. If you like food movies or are interested in Zen Buddhism, you’ll probably enjoy the film. It didn’t hook me in much at all, though. 2.5-3 cats.”
Carlha says: “I thought this was a terrific movie. One I plan to see again when it comes to the Kendall and to buy when it
becomes available. Why?
“Because it was a lot more than about cooking or Edward Espe Brown or bread making, it was about the philosophy of life! Food has always been central to peoples’ culture; it has been the way that we connect to the earth, to the rhythms of live, to the meaning of it all. Food nourishes our soul, feeds our body and engages our mind. Today we have lost this because we buy our meat and produce in plastic wrapping. Growing food, cooking and eating are the very basic components of life where we learn
environmental and nutritional lessons along with compassion and patience; all very valuable lessons in life. As Espe said ‘nourishment does not come in a package.'”