Mubi Monday: The Taste Of Things (2023)

While internally debating my next viewing choice, I was drawn to this, a drama starring the fine Juliette Binoche that would also apparently make me very hungry while watching it. I love films that can strongly affect more than just your sight and hearing, and I hoped to be salivating as I watched this recipe being cooked into filmic perfection.

Binoche plays Eugénie, a cook who seems to be one of the very best. She has certainly impressed her fellow chef, Dodin (Benoît Magimel), who loves Eugénie and her cooking in almost equal measure. Eventually proposing to become more than just two people sharing cooking knowledge and kitchen space, Dodin has to be patient while Eugénie gently rebuffs him, wanting to maintain all of her focus on the cooking that she treats as an almost religious experience. The one main addition to the kitchen is Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), a young girl who has some natural talent and a real willingness to learn. Dodin continues to hold a candle for Eugénie, but will she ever want to view him as anything other than a cooking colleague?

Based on a novel by Marcel Rouff, this is written and directed by Trần Anh Hùng, a film-maker who has already built up a small filmography of some acclaim. I have only seen one other film from them so far, Norwegian Wood (2010), but I see a lot that I like in their delicate and unrushed handling of material that explores human nature in the mix of some enjoyable onscreen characters.

As expected, Binoche is as wonderful here as ever. She always seems convincingly enthralled by the skill and care required to get the best out of every ingredient going into the dishes she is preparing, and her character manages to convey that sensation to others while managing to avoid seeming egotistical. Her meals are the best because everything she does is in service of the meal. Magimel is also very good, and it's easy for viewers to believe that he could fall so much in love with Binoche after spending so much time in close proximity to her work and her aura. Others appear onscreen, many discussing culinary highs and lows that they've experienced over the years, but Chagneau-Ravoire is the perfect complementary ingredient to the main course, allowing viewers to see the kind of innocence and real interest that Eugénie sees as possibly leading to a life-long vocation/passion.

I wish there had been a few more grand meals shown (sadly, I did not salivate), and the whole thing is actually a fairly slim premise to be dragged out to 135 minutes, but this was a sweet and effective melodrama. The leads are wonderful, the cinematography is lush, and it's another fine example of how careful and tender Hùng is when it comes to allowing us a peek into the lives of some fictional characters.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: Let The Sunshine In (2017)

Juliette Binoche stars as Isabelle in this Claire Denis movie that some people have labelled as her version of a rom-com. I wouldn’t, but some have, although I can certainly see how she has taken certain sub-genre elements and reworked them into her own particular approach to film-making.

Isabelle is unable to find real happiness, moving from one encounter to the next with a series of men who aren’t right for her. But Isabelle tends to know that they are not right for her, either from the way she feels about them once the warm afterglow has worn off or from the way she recognises that they just aren’t all that interested. That doesn’t help though, and sometimes someone being disinterest makes Isabelle want to pursue them even more.

Binoche is excellent here, but Binoche is excellent in pretty much everything she does, whether or not the film is deserving of her skill. She’s joined by a variety of actors portraying flawed male suitors, to put it mildly, including Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Nicolas Duvauchelle, and one or two others, all doing good work. And there’s a small, but pivotal, role for Gérard Depardieu, playing a character who comes in to the movie just in time to confuse our lead some more. 

Working from a script co-written by herself and Christine Angot, adapting the book by Roland Barthes, Denis enjoys taking us on a journey with her main character that many will recognise. You try to be guarded sometimes and don’t find happiness. You let your guard down and don’t find happiness. You try to find The One, end up settling for the one who is available, and get stuck in what can seem like an endless cycle of dates that you suspect won’t lead to anything that actually lasts. Getting away from that cycle leads to a huge sigh of relief, but no escape is guaranteed to be permanent.

Despite what I have said about the rest of the cast, there are one or two decent men also given some screentime alongside Isabelle. They just don’t take up as much space and time in her life, perhaps because Isabelle has spent so much time with the wrong people that she cannot recognise someone who might be right for her.

Let The Sunshine In is a call to all. It’s a way of reminding people that they deserve to be happy. That shouldn’t be so difficult. But it is. We see it in the trials and tribulations of Isabelle, and we can see it in the highs and lows of our own lives. 

I thought I was quite enjoying Let The Sunshine In while it was on, although it certainly wasn’t a film full of, well, sunshine and rainbows. Thinking about it more, however, it turns out that I REALLY liked it. It is one of my favourite Claire Denis movies, and features what may now be my all-time favourite performance from Binoche. Which is really saying something.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: A Couch In New York (1996)

A rom-com so strange that I am not entirely sure whether or not it is actually working as both a traditional type of film within the sub-genre and also some kind of knowing satire of the form, A Couch In New York nevertheless works any way you decide to take it.

Written and directed by Chantal Akerman, who developed the main story with Jean-Louis Benoît, what you have here is an apartment swap between a psychoanalyst (Henry Harriston, played by William Hurt) and a Parisian dancer (Béatrice Saulnier, played by Juliette Binoche). Both are seeking an escape, and both find themselves fascinated by the alternate lives the vicariously step into. Harriston struggles to deal with the messy chaos he discovers, but Ms Saulnier finds herself quickly growing to enjoy the role of substitute psychoanalyst when people turn up for appointments that they won't let her cancel.

Absolutely ridiculous once things start to play out, with both of the leads barely having time to adjust before the mistaken identity antics begin, there's something wonderful about just how this juxtaposes attempts at real with and intelligence with tropes that were already well-worn by this point. Hurt and Binoche bring a certain class to the proceedings, in a manner of speaking, and they have a good connection between them, but they have to work through scenes that have misinterpretations of cross-over talk, prolonged fakery stemming from an inexplicable inability to simply tell the truth and clear up any misunderstandings, and even a dash to catch a flight in the final act.

You could also check off some other very familiar rom-com elements throughout the course of the film. There's a cute pet, supporting characters who provide either help or obstacles (Anne, played by Stephanie Buttle, is a friend to Béatrice, while Dennis, played by Paul Guilfoyle, tries to advise Henry), some other people who pop in and out of the story long enough to help the main characters consider how they are acting, and that airport run.

I'm not meaning to sound like I am disparaging the rom-com at all when I say that Hurt and Binoche bring a certain class to the proceedings. I am just giving my own view of both leads. The rom-com is a type of film easily looked down on, and dismissed, by far too many people, but a terrible one will remind you of how much work it takes to make the great ones . . . great. Just watch Leap Year to see what I mean. No, don't watch that. Anyway, back to the cast here. The leads are great, although Hurt seems more ill-at-ease in his part than Binoche seems with what she has to do, and Guilfoyle adds some fun. Buttle has very little to do, which is fine when it allows for an extra minute or two of Richard Jenkins doing his stuff (he's a patient who comes to lie on the couch and discuss his problems).

Akerman knows what she's doing, as does everyone in front of the camera, but the end result somehow manages to feel both comfortably familiar and yet also slightly skewed. However you end up feeling about the film, it's an interesting viewing experience.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: The Truth (2019)

After the absolute brilliance of Shoplifters, I was willing to see anything that director Hirokazu Koreeda would do next. I'm sure many others felt the same way. Not that Koreeda hasn't been delivering great movies now for decades, but Shoplifters was so good that it just put him right back in my mind as a bit of a master of cinema. And I'm sure others feel the same way.

Anyway, The Truth is Koreeda's English-language debut. And it's mostly in French. Catherine Deneuve plays a famous actress, Fabienne Dangeville, who is being visited by her daughter (Lumir, played by Juliette Binoche), her son-in-law (Hank, played by Ethan Hawke), and their child (Charlotte, played by Clémentine Grenier). The timing coincides with the release of Fabienne's autobiography and her latest role that has her playing . . . a mother. And the truth is ripe for exploration at this time, especially as Lumir calls into question so many things in the alleged autobiography that didn't actually happen the way they are described.

I think it's fair to say that The Truth may well disappoint a lot of people after Shoplifters. It's nowhere near as good as that film, and it doesn't seem to make any of the main points as effectively and beautifully as we're used to seeing these things done by Koreeda, who once again takes on both the directing and writing duties (although Ken Liu is credited for a short story used as the basis for the film that Fabiene is working on).

The weakness of the material, however, is at least partly compensated for by the quality of the leads. Deneuve is a grand dame of cinema, of course, and I can't think of any role she's had that I've disliked. This gives her some great moments, showing a woman so invested in her acting career that she will move from a moment of honest emotion to figuring out how best to use those feelings in a specific scene in her movie. Binoche is a perfect "opponent", staying strong enough to wrestle things back to the truth that the title of the movie promises. Hawke is very good in his role, although his character feels quite unnecessary for most of the runtime, and Grenier is just fine as the beloved child of the group. Manon Clavel does well in a supporting role, and Roger Van Hool helps to mix things up a bit when he appears onscreen.

What you end up with, ultimately, is a character study that steadily turns into a mood piece. But the mood never really feels like one worth giving so much time to. The core of the film is a standard family confrontation, and the dressing around it all never seems vital. It all infuses the core, undeniably, but a few tweaks could have left a lot of things the same without the extra layering that doesn't add enough to make it all worthwhile.

It's a very enjoyable film, full of moments that will impress fans of the main cast. It's just not a great film. And, perhaps a bigger contributing factor to my opinion on it, it's just not close enough to being as good as Shoplifters.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: Clouds Of Sils Maria (2014)

I haven't actually seen that many films from writer-director Olivier Assayas, but what I HAVE seen from him has impressed me. He's a very talented director, eliciting superb performances from his cast and crafting scenes of sedate thoughtfulness that never feel just dull. Clouds Of Sils Maria is exactly in line with the other Assayas films I have knowledge of.

Juliette Binoche plays Maria Enders, an elderly actress with a rather unique problem/opportunity. She has been offered the chance to play the older character in a play that helped to set her on her way to stardom when, decades earlier, she has portrayed the younger character. Discussing the work with her assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), Maria has to also adjust to acting opposite a new up-and-coming actress, Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz), and ends up using her time in preparation for the role as time spent also considering her own approach to her career, her life, and her relationships with some other key people, including Valentine.

At a shade over two hours in length, Assayas is in no hurry here, which is as it should be. The central character is herself delaying things, plagued with doubt and insecurity as she considers a big step that will draw a lot of attention to where she is in her career. There's also more weight to the decision because of the death of the director, Wilhelm, who helped her get that big break. In fact, Maria was on her way to accept an award on his behalf when she learns of his death. There's musings on mortality, a thought or two about certain immortality (certainly in terms of powerful performances that create a reputation to ripple through the decades), and the constant struggle of battling against the ravages of time, particularly in a business that often values youth and beauty above so many other qualities.

Binoche is at her best in the main role, as fierce and strong as ever, with moments of vulnerability that take place either fleetingly, or very much hidden away from those she fears seeing her in a state of weakness. Stewart works great alongside her (and Assayas would have faith in her again, giving her a fantastic role in the quietly effective Personal Shopper), the relationship between the two an interesting and complex one, muddied by the scenes in which they work through the play together. Moretz is . . . well, she's okay, but the weakest of the three central females. I like Moretz a lot, but she seems to have struggled in the transition from talented child star in the right roles to an actress with a fully-rounded skillset.

Easy to dismiss as languid and pretentious, Clouds Of Sils Maria is certainly one that will be appreciated best by those who are closer in age to Binoche than Moretz. It's a character study, superficially, but it's also a meditation on some things we all experience as we wander through life, and that could include grief (not just for the loss of loved ones, but for the loss of past glories, the loss of time, the loss of moments that we didn't know enough about to fully appreciate at the time, and more) as well as the unhalting march of the minutes, hours, days, and years.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: High Life (2018)

Although I am giving the main credit here to director Claire Denis, and co-writer Jean-Pol Fargeau, High Life is very much a collaborative effort. Well . . . every film is, but it's important to acknowledge the variety of minds at work on various aspects of this one, from novelist Nick Laird to physicist Aurélien Barrau, as well as artist Olafur Eliasson, responsible for the design of the main spacecraft in the film. And the cast all do well to trust the creators as they do their bit in a film that is certainly a very different kind of science fiction adventure.

Which isn't to say it's really all that great. I seem to be at odds with the general consensus on Denis, admiring her work rather than actually enjoying it, and finding myself won over more by something like White Material than Beau Travail. Of course, those are the only ones I can recall having seen. Until now.

Lots of people raved about High Life. It garnered plenty of great reviews, the cast were all applauded for their work (particularly Robert Pattinson, continuing his move further and further away from the vapid vampire nonsense that made him a huge box office draw), so my opinion doesn't really matter, not in the great scheme of things. But it's not going to stop me from sharing it, and my opinion is that High Life is . . . quite interesting, quite good, but never great. I doubt any marketing execs will rush to get a quote from me if they ever make a sequel.

The messy plot revolves around a group of young prisoners on a space mission that is setting out to achieve a number of results. There's a doctor (played by Juliette Binoche) obsessing over creating a child by artificial insemination and, more importantly, there's a black hole to be explored, with the aim of trying to extract energy from it. Both missions have quite an impact on the mental health of those inhabiting the spacecraft, and both missions seem to have a similarly slim chance of success, at various times.

Although there are good moments here and there, Denis spreads them out a bit too thinly throughout the 110-minute runtime. This is a sci-fi film that ultimately isn't that bothered about the true science of the premise, despite the input from at least one qualified expert, but also doesn't do enough with the philosophical side of things to make up for that. Energy, life, youth, punishment, indoctrination, morality, etc, are all explored without any real notion that those making the film have an ultimate point to make.

I would also say that the cast is quite a mixed bag. Pattinson really does well in his role, carrying the film for most of the runtime. There's even a good little supporting turn from André Benjamin AKA André 3000. But those performances are counterbalanced by the . . . varying quality of the turns from Mia Goth, Ewan Mitchell, and an uncharacteristically disappointing Binoche.

There's still enough here to make High Life worth your time, if you have the patience for it. It's a mess, but a mess with some fine ingredients that have been misused by a distracted chef. And the fact that things just get wilder and wilder in the third act, on the way to an effective finale, helps to keep it just above average.

6/10

Probably best to check in here for the movie.

Mubi Monday: Elles (2011)

Juliette Binoche stars here as Anne, a journalist writing for Elle magazine. Her latest assignment is all about university students who earn themselves extra money by working as prostitutes. As she has more conversations with Charlotte (Anaís Demoustier) and Alicja (Joanna Kulig), she starts to find herself more and more preoccupied with thoughts of sex, and how it impacts the lives of these young women, for better or for worse.

Directed by Małgorzata Szumowska, who also co-wrote the script with Tine Byrckel, Elles has been lazily described as a modern riff on Belle de Jour. While there are certainly similarities here, especially with the way that the main character starts to slip further into moments of fantasy during her day to day life, this is a film framed to feel much more relevant today than the Bunuel classic (and Belle de Jour IS a classic). There's ambiguity, there is a good and bad side shown to being so open to differing dynamics in sexual situations, but the undercurrent feels more positive, a reminder to women that wanting sex, using it for your own gain, isn't anything to be ashamed of, no matter what hypocrites have to say about it.

Szumowska is someone I have not encountered before, yet a very brief look over her filmography shows a selection of titles and synopses that mark her out as someone creating consistently smart and interesting fare. I doubt this will be the last time I review one of her films, especially as I now intend to seek out her other works ASAP (ASAP for me, however, always means . . . at some point within the next decade).

Binoche does good work in the main role, portraying a character who could easily have remained less interesting than the others she becomes fascinated by. The fact that she becomes more fleshed out and interesting as she examines herself in the reflection of her interview subjects is thanks to both the script and the performance from Binoche. The same can be said of her family members (mainly her husband, played by Louis-do de Lencquesaing, and elder son, played by François Civil), with those characters moved to the foreground as Demoustier and Kulig, a couple of key scenes aside, are gradually moved back. The focus of the film slowly, but surely, turns to show what Binoche does with her new insights, and how she starts to consider living her life by a new set of standards.

Elles doesn't do anything new, it won't change the way you view things, but it's a well-made reminder of the minefields we all navigate in our own minds when it comes to something that should always be pleasurable and a lot less complicated: sex.

7/10

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Cosmopolis (2012)

Robert Pattinson plays Eric Packer, a man who wants to get a haircut. He's an extremely rich man (a multi-billionaire, in fact) and could just get someone to visit him at his office, but instead he insists on being driven around town in his stretch limo amidst the chaos that is a Presidential visit, an ongoing protest against capitalism and serious threats on his life. During his trip, he tries to convince his new wife (Sarah Gadon) that they should have some sex, he speaks to various members of his staff, engages in some energetic infidelity and views the turbulent events unfolding around him with a mixture of morbid fascination and cool disinterest.

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, based on the novel by Don DeLillo, this is a movie perhaps best described as Videodrome meets Wall Street with a white version of Driving Miss Daisy. Yes, I know that mixture sounds quite ridiculous, but it's appropriate. It's certainly not a film to watch if you need some great set-pieces and a bit of energy in each scene. This is almost completely cerebral, for better or worse, and demands patience from viewers. Patience that isn't really rewarded in the obvious fashion.

Pattinson is pretty good in the main role, there's a hint of Patrick Bateman about his character but also quite a Charles Foster Kane vibe. Details about how he amassed his personal wealth are teased out during conversations, but not enough to put together a complete picture. He seems like a potential philanthropist one minute and a complete sociopath the next, and Pattinson conveys every facet of his personality while also keeping hold of himself in a very stiff and controlled manner, most of the time. The other people that move in and out of the movie are strangely disconnected in a variety of ways, whether it's through their fleeting appearance and disappearance or the actual nature of the character (Gadon seems to move through the film without letting any of the world around her get within touching distance). Jay Baruchel, Juliette Binoche, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton, Mathieu Amalric and Patricia McKenzie, plus quite a few others, all do well with their roles, even if they do often feel like characters taken directly from the Packer's overactive subconscious. Paul Giamatti gets to play someone more connected to the actual reality of everyday life than any of the other characters, and he puts in another fantastic performance.

Cronenberg seems to do what he can in this film to push people away. He certainly doesn't make it an easy film to enjoy, but it IS enjoyable. It's a lesser Cronenberg film, that's for sure, but it's still worth a watch if you're a fan of his work. The best, and most unexpected, thing about the film is the humour throughout, often subtle and sly but sometimes completely over the top and surreal. That humour hardwired to the intelligence running through the script allows Cosmopolis to become a bit of a paradox - a film that is hard enough to get through once but may well leave observant viewers wanting to rewatch it.

Equal parts amusing and irritating, this may be a film that you end up absolutely hating. It could also be one that you end up enjoying much more than I did.

6/10

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Dan In Real Life (2007)

There are parts of a nice movie hidden within Dan In Real Life. In fact, there are parts of a movie that the cast deserve a hell of a lot more than this one. Especially Steve Carell in the lead role.

Carell plays the Dan of the title. He’s a widower with three young girls who seem to test him more and more every day. He also writes a column in which he offers other people advice and helps them with their own family problems. If only he could sort out his own. He and the girls head off to a family gathering and it’s not long before Dan is encouraged to head off for a bit of time on his own. He heads to a local bookshop and, while there, meets the beautiful Anne-Marie (Juliette Binoche). The two of them have a wonderful time talking together and Dan gets her phone number as they go their separate ways. He’s shocked when he gets home and is introduced to the latest girlfriend of his brother (Mitch, played by Dane Cook). Yep, it’s Anne-Marie. So begins a family gathering from hell as Dan veers between playing things overly cool and letting his emotions cause no small amount of embarrassment.

Directed by Peter Hedges (who also co-wrote the movie with Pierce Gardner), Dan In Real Life benefits from an absolutely superb cast but doesn't give any of them enough moments in which to shine.

Carell is wonderful and Binoche is delightful but the great Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney are sadly underused while the not-so-great Dane Cook is sadly given plenty of screentime. Now, unlike some folks, I don't mind Dane Cook and have actually enjoyed a number of his movies and performances but he's not served well by the script here, his role being little more than harmless schmo oblivious to some rather obvious awkwardness between his new lady and his brother. If you like Emily Blunt then you may be disappointed to see that she's also given very little to do. In fact, her screentime amounts to little more than five minutes and her character is simply a bit of an antidote to all of the subtle treachery occuring while, let's face it, a guy tries to sabotage his brother's latest relaionship. Alison Pill, Britt Robertson and Marlene Lawstonare all quite good as Dan's three young daughters but even their characters aren't given all that much to do.

There were a couple of moments that made me laugh and many moments that made me cringe but I couldn't bring myself to rate the movie as something truly terrible. It's quite a disappointment but at least the performances are good.

4/10

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