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THE TASTE OF OTHERS Send This Review to a Friend
A French film with a fascinating look at unlikely relationships, "The Taste of Others" was one of the most outstanding selections of the New York Film Festival in the Fall of 2000. Thoroughly delightful and extremely well written and directed, the film is in the tradition of the best in French filmmaking from Jean Renoir to Eric Rohmer. This is an ultra sophisticated and creative work directed by Agnes Jaoui, who co-wrote the script with Jean-Pierre Bacri, her husband, with whom she has worked previously, as in Cedric Klapisch's "Un Air de Famille" Both also star in the new film.
Jaoui plays the independent-minded Manie, and Bacri is Castella, a highly successful businessman who is looked down upon for his ignorance about the arts and his lack of sophistication. Castella's wife Angelique (Christiane Millet) breezes through life paying more attention to décor and her phony interest in the arts than she does to the feelings and needs of her husband, who is bored and dissatisfied. Life begins to hold new interest for him when his wife drags him to the theater and he becomes fascinated with Clara (Anne Alvaro), the actress who plays the queen in Racine's "Berenice." He returns repeatedly to see the play and the actress, and when he decides to learn English in connection with his business affairs, the teacher turns out to be Clara. At first she is immune to his shy but heartfelt indications of his feelings for her. Can he win her over in view of life's differences?
Manie (Jaoui) works as a bartender, and the other key relationship is the on-going affair she has with a man who has even more trouble making a commitment than she does, a professional bodyguard (Gerard Lanvin), who happens to be employed by Castella. It seems as if the lovers should be able to connect permanently, but can they?
This is the sort of film in which plot outlines do not begin to convey the depth of what is on screen. The nuances revealing characteristics, changes that take place in subtle ways, the mocking that Castella endures, his turnabout as he insists upon his dignity, and the feisty portrait of Manie as a woman attempting to be herself yet find love all combine to give the films scope and meaning. Along with insights into life's values, there is humorous interplay between the bodyguard and Castella's chauffeur, who is having romantic problems of his own, and there are opportunities for considering traditional differences between the outlooks of men and women. We even get to see the dynamics of a working relationship in business in the face of pressures concerning an impending deal.
As an actress, Jaoui makes Manie a vibrant screen character of principle, and in his acting Bacri evokes much sympathy for Castella as someone to root for in asserting himself and winning the woman on whom he has set his sights. Likewise, Anne Alvaro's Clara elicits compassion as we see her feelings and perceptions develop with greater attachment to and respect for Castella. Also impressive is the quality that Christiane Millet brings to the role of Castella's wife, making her villainous with respect to her husband's aspirations, yet curiously sympathetic as a woman who hasn't a clue and therefore cannot find her own happiness.
Jaoui's direction, all the more impressive because this is her debut behind the camera, and the intelligent screenplay blend smoothly, as do the actors who constitute an admirable ensemble. There is much self-assurance in the filmmaking, which avoids clobbering us over the head with all that is happening, but proceeds with impeccable taste and restraint, all the while entertainingly engrossing us in the people, their surroundings and their hopes and frustrations. "The Taste of Others" is a welcome movie of rare wit and charm that offers examples of broadening one's outlook toward potential relationships.
It certainly makes me want to see more of whatever Jaoui and Bacri do in the future. From Offline Releasing in association with Artistic License Films.
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