A Taste of Hunger

A creative and driven Danish chef , who learned his trade in Japan , finally gains his own restaurant with a Michelin star as his ultimate goal. Great actors, storyline and attention to detail preparing his luxurious food.

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.

No pun intended - Game of Food? I don't think that works - though if you have used it, I am not saying you are wrong. I guess if you are responsible for a kitchen, for many people who cook (for you and customers), you have to be quite ... well hard and really "bossy". The start gives us a clear view of our main character and how he thinks and acts.

We may feel he is a bit too much - the way he commands and talks (down) to his employees ... but as I said, sometimes this is the only way to go about things. Add to that a really tough relationship and other issues that seem to lay in his way ... and you can feel for the guy ... especially towards the end ... both his wife and him ... we understand both perspectives ... or rather we can understand them both ... maybe we are more on one side than the other ... will it help or be an obstacle to his professional goals?

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.