From Trân Anh Hùng, the Vietnamese director of The Scent of Green Papaya (1993) and At the Height of Summer (2000) comes this typically sumptuous and sensuous celebration of love and the culinary arts. In late-nineteenth century France, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), recently suffering a bout of ill health, and Dodin (Benoît Magimel) work together in his kitchen to create magnificent meals renowned far and wide. While their partnership has romantic elements, she has firmly refused all offers of marriage he has made over their years sharing a near-symbiotic relationship. Featuring long sequences of food preparation, this is a deceptively simple film. At its heart, it is about the joy of creation and of devoting oneself to artistry, and the particular pleasures of finding someone like-minded with whom to share a life spent in the pursuit of the extraordinary.

Notes by Kevin Coyne