Foodie Films

 By Isabel Benton

Food plays a fundamental role in the world in which we live, and has done in all societies and cultures for as long as humanity can remember. As well as its essential function for survival, our daily lives and social interactions are moulded around what, when and how we eat. It is therefore unsurprising that creatives seeking to reflect the world through various media have turned to food as a primary tool. As we have seen in our previous blog post, food holds a place in the spotlight in many forms of fiction, from children’s literature to plays, and this is no less true in the case of film.

Within recent years, the prominence of food in films has been to the extent that some critics now endorse a separate genre for ‘food films’. This is applied to any film in which the production, preparation or consumption of food proves central to the plot or any character development. For instance, Chocolat (2000), in which the protagonist, Vianne, opens a chocolate is viewed as part of this genre. Further examples include Babette’s Feast (1987), which as its title suggests is focused around a lavish feast, and Tampopo (1985) which tells the story of a restaurant owner learning how to cook great noodles. Such films, set across time and within various cultures, depict the universal importance of food, both in reality and in cinematic fiction. 

Vianne and her chocolates. Chocolat, 2000.

Yet, food and its associated social practices don’t have to feature so obviously within films for their role to be fundamental. Rather than focusing on food as the subject of the film, most filmmakers opt to use food as a tool to express other themes and ideas. As Anne L. Bower argues, characters can negotiate questions of ‘identity, power, culture, class, spirituality or relationship through food’. In such cases, food provides meaning more subtly through symbolism. For instance, in films food can act as an indicator for social status, with feasts such as those evident in Marie Antoinette (2006) reflecting wealth, opulence or even greed in comparison to  in Gold Rush (1925) in which Charlie Chaplin’s character is shown to be eating a shoe due to a lack of food, giving the audience a glimpse into his broader, flawed lifestyle. It is clear from films like these that food is used beyond its substantive purpose in the film world, to become a signifier of context, or a symbol of something greater than itself. 

 Marie Antoinette and her 'feast' of cake. Marie Antoinette, 2006.

It is not familiar, everyday food alone that performs a symbolic function within fictional films as challenges to these noms also work as dramatic tools. Within films like Delicatessen (1991) and other horror or science fiction films, the notion of cannibalism is used to invert normal social practices surrounding food to invoke repulsion and disgust from the audience. In these instances, food presents a point of divergence between what is ‘normal’ and what is not, and as a result the presentation of food becomes symbolic of what is considered ‘other’. This indicates the powerful role that food can play in shaping both character identity and plot, in addition to its more aesthetic and contextual function.     

 Movie poster for Delicatessen, 1991.

Whilst the essential nature of food in reality is indisputable, the same can be said of the role it plays in the fictional universes created by filmmakers. Food can be represented, utilised and manipulated in innumerable contexts in order to convey anything the film wants to to the audience, proving its pivotal role as a dramatic tool.   

Consider yourself a fictitous foodie? You can find these foodie films in our Audiovisual Collection (in the Harry Fairhurst Building!):

Babette’s Feast, (1987), LP 4.309489 AXE

Chocolat, (2000), LP 4.30944 DEN

Delicatessen, (1991), LP 4.30944 JEU

Gold Rush, (1925), LP 4.30973 CHA

Marie Antoinette, (2006), LP 4.30973 COP

Tampopo, (1985), LP 4.30952 ITA