"The Taste of Things" and "Perfect Days"

I've been slacking when it comes to foreign films from last year.  Let's check two more off the list. 

Foodie film fans rejoice, for another great title in this genre has arrived.  "The Taste of Things" is a French language film set in the 1880s, about the gourmand Dodin Bouffant (Benoit Magimel), and his love for his cook and partner in fine dining, Eugenie (Juliette Binoche).  Directed by the great Tran Ahn Hung, the film features several long, decadent scenes of food being prepared to perfection, served, and consumed.  It's absolutely mesmerizing to watch so much care and dedication being put toward the art of cookery, and using preparation methods from a century ago, no less.  If the entire film had never left the kitchen, I would have been perfectly satisfied.

However, the film does leave the kitchen, and eventually reveals itself to be about a long simmering romance between Dodin and Eugenie, neither of them young anymore, and both getting wistful about what the future holds.  Dodin makes his feelings plain, but Eugenie refuses to marry him.  There are several subplots, including plans for a dinner for a visiting prince, Eugenie wishing to take on a girl named Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire) as an apprentice cook, and Eugenie suffering from an unknown illness.  However, I found myself impatient with anything that deviated too far away from the cooking, with all of its beautifully captured sensory pleasures.  The characters are at their best when they're at their most passionate, usually about food, but sometimes about each other.  

Unfortunately, the romance wasn't to my taste, being very French and very melodramatic.  Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel are very winning, however, playing relatively simple, appealing roles that make good use of their larger-than-life movie star charms.  The original French title of the film is "The Passion of Dodin Bouffant," which I feel is more appropriate than "The Taste of Things," because Dodin is who emerges as the main character after all is said and done.  I felt a little cheated that most of Juliette Binoche's screen time was in the first act, but it all works out in the end.  As with all films of this kind, it's best not to watch it on an empty stomach.  

On to "Perfect Days," which is a lovely, unhurried sort of slice-of-life film.  Directed by German director Wim Wenders, but taking place entirely in Tokyo, we follow the daily life of a middle-aged custodian named Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), who spends his days cleaning public toilets.  Hirayama is dedicated and happy in his work, despite how his position is perceived.  We meet several of the people in his life - a flighty co-worker, Takashi (Tokio Emoto), Hirayama's young niece, Niko (Arisa Nakano), and the owner (Sayuri Ishikawa) of a restaurant that Hirayama often frequents.  We also learn the pattern of Hirayama's life and all the little pleasures that he enjoys - listening to cassette tapes of American oldies, photographing and taking care of trees, and reading books every night.  The title comes from Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," which features prominently on the soundtrack.

According to interviews, Wenders was originally invited to Japan to make a documentary about Tokyo's public toilet initiatives.  He ended up making something like a modern day Ozu film, creating a leisurely portrait of an ordinary man who goes about his usual routine of work and hobbies, and not much really happens.  However, each new encounter and each new incident tells us so much about Hirayama.  What he pays attention to and what he cares about all help to create an irresistible private world of quiet, simple, beautiful moments.  His arc in the film is subtle, but it's there.  Koji Yakusho, who picked up a Best Actor award from Cannes for his performance, is gently heartbreaking as he's forced to confront specters of the past and future.  Without ever saying much, we come to learn exactly what kind of a person he is, and by the end of the film it's certain that whatever life throws at Hirayama , he'll be just fine.    

Wim Wenders is one of those filmmakers who hasn't made a masterpiece in a while, and it's so heartening to discover that he's still capable of knocking one out of the park.  

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