Smagen af sult

Greetings again from the darkness. I'll try to avoid the temptation of including overtly cute food references ... especially those that might leave a bad taste (!). Writer-director Cristoffer Boe and his talented co-writer Tobias Lindholm (ANOTHER ROUND, THE HUNT) have collaborated on a film that centers on the world of haute cuisine, and how it can impact the mindset and relationships of those immersed in what may be the most bizarre art form on the planet. Despite the strain of the co-working spouses, rather than describing this as a romantic drama, I believe it might be better termed an obsessive drama.

Maggi (Katrine Gries-Rosenthal) and her husband Carsten (Nikoaj Coster-Waldau, "Game of Thrones") have been working together for 10 years to build a special restaurant in Copenhagen with the goal of earning a Michelin star. We see how committed to the cause they are, and while they appear to have a solid marriage and are decent parents, it's clear the kids and the family are not the priority that the quest for that star is.

While most of us are challenged with balancing family and profession, the obsessive tendencies displayed by both Maggi and Carsten are a bit unsettling. To what lengths would you go in order to achieve your dream? At what point does that obsession negatively impact other aspects of your life, and when it happens, will you even notice? What happens if your young daughter ... in this case Chloe (Flora Augusta) notices and is impacted?

Director Boe opens with the perfect quote from Kathy Acker: "If you ask me what I want, I'll tell you. I want everything." Of course, like everyone with this attitude before them, Maggi and Carsten discover their ego and obsessiveness carries a hefty price. Everything is not possible without sacrifice, which means everything is not possible. Boe also splits the film into cooking-related terms: Sweet, Sour, Fat, Salt, Heat, etc. It's a tad tricky, but we can see how the labels fit each section. Another lesson we learn is that blackmail is never a good strategy when wooing a lover, but here it serves to confront Maggi with quite the dilemma Food and obsession are two common movie themes, and here we get an explosive food obsession, although the food is merely the conduit in the pursuit of the award and the recognition that comes with it. Unbridled ambition is rarely attractive and often ends with a dose of disappointment or come-uppance. Director Boe, and two fine lead performances, give us a seat at the table for all courses.

A TASTE FOR HUNGER is being released in theaters on January 28, 2022.

This movie is mainly destined to gourmets - whom I am not - so maybe that's for this reason that I hardly feel any taste in my mouth watching it. I was at first afraid to be COVID infected - absence of taste - but I fastly realized that I focused on the wrong link to appreciate this dish movie. I preferd Ted Kotcheff's WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? Which was far more delightful than this one. Actually this film has to be seen as a drama, romance, nothing else. It remains an interesting movie after all, the rest concerns only a matter of approach. Nothing else.

This movie is about a little girl being traumatized by her entire family. The food and the couple are incredibly boring and bland.

Nothing about the movie is original or interesting really.

When it starts it looks like they're going to focus on the food, but then they completely forget about it.

The main plot of the movie is supposed to be about this chef not paying attention to his family in the pursue of a Michelin star, but they wrote it in this weird way that nothing ever feels justified, what he does doesn't feel that bad, and the way his wife reacts seems super over the top.

The whole thing is very clumsy and bland. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Smagen af sult is a decent film. I went in with little expectations and came out satisfied having seen a nicely presented picture. The only other Michelin-star-level cooking film that I remember watching is Burnt, which was a TOTAL train-wreck, so the bar was set pretty low.

The plot perhaps lacks some substance, but in other respects the film delivered. It was nicely framed, the performances were good all around, and the characters felt real. This especially goes for Frederik. A character that would commonly get downgraded to one-dimensional home-wrecker, in this film he gets just enough spotlight to show how he also was yet another victim of the ambition to get that coveted Michelin star.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is one of my favorite actors, and as always he has an excellent performance in this film. A Taste of Hunger was sold as Nikolai being the main actor, however the big star of this film is not him, but Katrine Greis-Rosenthal (Maggie). The plot developed throughout the film was completely wrapped around her character, leaving Carsten, Nikolai's character, in the background. There was no reason to create so much marketing over Nikolai's name and so little on Katrine, this is something that bothered me a lot, even though Nikolai is my favorite actor.

The story is interesting, with a justifiable personal desire of the character. The photography is wonderful, capturing beautiful elements and scenery from Denmark. I noticed some camera and continuation errors, but they are passable.

The plot developed throughout the film is quite warm until the middle, focusing exclusively on the desires, hopes and characteristics of the characters. And after all that, there's an interesting plot twist at the end of the movie, something that is, frankly, unimaginable.

Overall, A Taste of Hunger is a good movie to watch in the afternoon. It's not a film with an excellent plot, but it is... charismatic. The performances are excellent, soundtrack PERFECT, photography great, and a warm story.

I recommend.