Film Review - A Taste of Hunger

Images courtesy of Pivot Pictures.

Let’s do a recap: Adam and Eve were ruined by an apple, and tempted by a snake. That’s a cool plot, but what if we rewrote it in modern times and Adam is a Danish chef… that’s sounding rather elegant now. So, with Gordon Ramsay’s rage and Jamie Oliver’s compassion, Carsten begins his very classy, tumultuous journey of lust and greed, joined by his wife Maggie – a co-conspirator in this whole sinful charade.

I make it sound bad, but actually there’s a whole lot of humanity and compassion baked into each of the dishes on screen. There’s no intoxication of power once Carsten opens his dream restaurant to wonderous reviews, no adulation as their children grow up before our very eyes. Instead, we’re always chasing that apple, the illustrious golden-star review ranking for their restaurant. Whereas in ye’ olden books Adam and Eve  gluttonously rampaged through a whole orchard, Carsten and Maggie are malnourished, devoid of passion, and all-consumed by a shooting star. 

Speaking of meals, director Christoffer Boe makes a meal out of the whole movie, cueing subtitles throughout to label which part of the recipe we’re approaching now, for example salt – which was often reflected in the vibe throughout that particular chapter. In a way this format helps deconstruct food from a chef’s perspective, demonstrating how a dish requires chaos mellowed by subtle flavours, and I guess that’s how relationships work as well because there is a lot going on with the chemistry in this film.

Frederik, taking the place of the snake in this little ditty, is an absolute fiend. A despot, and a distraction, and obviously - delightfully fun to hate. He’s a well-rounded character, rife with frustration and jealousy, fallen from the good graces of Carsten’s inner-circle and scheming for his own self-interest. True to the bible, I cannot tell you the frustration of the lengths others will go to satiate this man, strung along by that forsaken apple, losing touch with humanity along the way.

Onto brighter pastures - A Taste of Hunger’s respect to the fine art of good grub is exquisite. The atmosphere eclipses anything mere mortals have seen before, taking those of us unfortunate enough to relate to me into a world where over fermented lemon grinds are a matter of life and death. What we’ve seen here is a film, a fine film mediating old themes over nice food.

A Taste of Hunger is screening in cinemas from Thursday 13th of October. For tickets and more info, click here.