SCREEN CUISINE
Sometimes, the use of food in films is marginal, little more than a prop or set piece. The meal depicted simply as an ordered social ritual set the stage for the real story line. In others, it plays a more hidden role, subtly illustrating a particular age or social gathering. Alternatively, food can become ‘the star of the show' like Big Night or La Grande Bouffe.
Some of my favorites include:
A Big Swallow
Made in 1901 this film shows a gentleman infuriated to find himself being photographed, who advances on the camera, opens his mouth as wide as the screen and swallows both camera and operator whole.
Babette's Feast
On the desolate coast of Denmark, two elderly, religious women take in a young woman to be their housekeeper and cook, not knowing she is a superb French chef. When the chef, Babette, wins a large sum of money, she decides to spend it all creating a magnificent meal for the simple villagers.
Big Night
Directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott.
The story of two brothers whose Italian restaurant is on the brink of bankruptcy. Their only chance for success is to risk everything they own on an extravagant feast for bandleader Louis Prima.
Chocolat
A lovely story set in a quiet little village in the French countryside where a single mother and her six-year-old daughter move to rural France and open a chocolate shop and shock the neighbors.
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
An all-star French cast assembles for an elegant dinner party, but whenever they try to eat, something happens to interrupt them. A satire directed by Luis Bunuel
Eating Raoul
Paul and Mary Bland dream of owning a restaurant but can't pony up the $20,000 down payment that will make it a reality. The couple decides to lure sex-seekers to their home via a classified ad, kill them and take their money. Plus, the "tasty" cadavers enliven some of the sauces featured on the menu!
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
Senior Master Chef Chu lives in a large house in Taipei with his three unmarried daughters,. Life in the house revolves around the ritual of an elaborate dinner each Sunday, and the love lives of all the family members.
The Exterminating Angel
The guests at a dinner party are held prisoner for several days without food, water or other essentials in a room in their host's house. Directed by Luis Bunuel.
Like Water for Chocolate
Taken from the novel, this story blends food, sex, mysticism and history into a compelling yarn and retains many of the magical realist elements found in the book. It keeps the food motif central with many truly mouth-watering dishes, incredible feasts and inspiring cooking.
Le Grande Bouffe
Four world-weary middle-aged men decide to gorge themselves to death in one final orgiastic weekend full of gourmet food and sex.
Mostly Martha A film about a woman who could cook but never enjoyed eating. The food scenes reveal her failure to communicate with both her staff and her family." Martha is the chef who fusses and obsesses over each dish before it leaves the kitchen. The demands of her job and her natural shyness keep her from meeting new people.
Tampopo
A celebration of the role of food in Japanese culture, acclaimed director dubbed the first "noodle western" for its delightful parody of American Westerns and Japanese samurai films.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Food, sex, murder, torture and cannibalism are the exotic fare in this beautifully filmed but brutally uncompromising modern fable.
The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush features one of the most memorable food scenes in movie history: "Inside the cabin meanwhile, hungry and desperate, the Tramp and Big Jim celebrate "Thanksgiving Dinner," in a famous, classic feast/meal scene.
The Last Supper
A group of West Coast sophisticates decide to better the world by passing judgment on their influential dinner guests. Say the wrong thing and you wind up as compost for the tomatoes. While very little is shown of food preparation this is definitely a food film.
The Wedding Banquet
To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand when they insist upon an elaborate banquet, resulting in several complications.
Tortilla Soup
A heartwarming comedy that's all about food, family and a certain kind of magic that only happens at the dinner table. Martin is the culinary genius behind a successful restaurant and the widowed father of three daughters. Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
A fast-food tycoon, his ex-wife and a gourmet magazine publisher are involved in a fast and funny murder mystery.
What's Cooking? Rather than limit herself to one family's deluge of dysfunctional dialogue at Thanksgiving we are introduced to the Jewish family with the lesbian daughter and her lover, the Hispanic family with the philandering husband and newly liberated wife, the cross-generational Vietnamese family's struggle with old traditions vs. new realities, and the successful yet fractured African American family.

DOCUMENTARIES
Fast Food Nation
Richard Linklater's critique of the junk-food juggernaut that's arguably responsible for America's alarming obesity rates.
The Future of Food
Before compiling your next grocery list, you might want to watch this eye-opening documentary, which sheds light on a shadowy relationship between agriculture, big business and government.
The Meaning of Food So many cultural and religious celebrations center on food, but how did this come to be? Discover the rich and varied history of American dining in this three-episode series that has filmmakers raving. Bad Seed
The truth about our food. Sixty percent of the food Americans eat has been genetically altered or engineered, and the jury is out on whether this could harm the population.
An Inconvenient Truth
Director-producer Davis Guggenheim captures former Vice President Al Gore in the midst of waging a passionate campaign -- not for the White House, but for the environment. Laying out the facts of global warming without getting political, Gore makes a sobering impression on the audiences who hear his message, urging them to act "boldly, quickly and wisely" … before it's too late to act at all. Plus it won an Academy Award for the best documentary!