By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Christian Vincent
Starring: Arthur Dupont | Catherine Frot | Hervé Pierre | Hippolyte Girardot | Jean d’Romesson | Jean-Marc Roulot | Laurent Poitrenaux | Philippe Uchan
Original language title: Les saveurs du Palais
Country: france
Year: 2013
Running time: 95
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2094877/combined
Bruce says: “Catherine Frot (AN AMAZING COUPLE, ON THE RUN, AFTER THE LIFE, THE DINNER GAME, THE PAGE TURNER) has been around a long time. Chlotrudis members may recall her in the Lucas Belvaux Trilogy consisting of the first three aforementioned films. HAUTE CUISINE gives her a star billing. A quiet and somewhat endearing film, HAUTE CUISINE surprisingly won the Audience AWARD for Narrative Feature at the 2013 Provincetown International Film Festival.
“Not exactly a biopic, HAUTE CUISINE is based on a true story. Well, at least the people are real. Hortense Laborie (Frot) is recruited from her farm in central France to interview with representatives from the Mitterand administration. A new chef is
needed at the Elysee Palace. It may be that Franҫois Mitterand himself has something to do with the recruiting but that would be impossible to know considering the many layers of bureaucracy in the French government. After she accepts the job, she is
met with an icy reception at both ends – her bosses are patronizing and those who work for her in the kitchen are insubordinate. Hortense becomes dedicated to preparing meals she feels the President would enjoy, insistent on buying from the best butchers and produce suppliers. She is also obsessed with getting access to Mitterand. Her goal is to prepare meals that Mitterand’s grandmother might have served, but she is undermined every step of the way by characters worthy of a Dickens novel.
“This may sound like a film that presents detailed account of what goes on in her kitchen during her Elysee tenure. Au contraire. The film begins and ends in Antarctica where Hortense is the much-liked chef in a cafeteria at a scientific station. Granted some of the scenes in the Antarctic would make a great epilogue to her story. However, as edited, the core of the film becomes an awkward flashback.
“Yes, she does meet Mitterand. That sounds like a spoiler but it is not much of one. In France it appears that Hortense wins the
battle but loses the war. Beyond the President, her talents are largely unappreciated. Antarctica is another story; Down Under
she is clearly loved. Frot, exuding competence while remaining elegantly aloof, is ever so engaging. The script and directing,
less so. Another enigma is: why isn’t the chef’s real name – Danièle Delpeuch – used to tell her story? Fictionalizing her creates a suspicion that none of the events depicted are true. 3.5 cats
“(HAUTE CUISINE screened at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival and the 2013 Provincetown International Film Festival.)”