The Best Food Movies, By Farr (VIDEOS)

Great movies help us explore the rich connotations of food in our lives -- how it brings us together (for better or worse), comforts us, and conjures memories of past events and associations. There's also a darker side, with food a potent metaphor for greed, gluttony and privation.

Predictably, great films with peerless food scenes abound: among them, Tom and the wench eyeing each other hungrily as they devour game in "Tom Jones" (1962), the glorious banquet that concludes "The Leopard" (1963), the pie-eating contest in "Stand By Me"(1986), and the lavish feast created for Louis XIV in "Vatel" (2000).

My own top picks for food-themed movies were all released in the past twenty years, and most emanate from distant shores. So, let's take a little trip around the world.

 

TELL US: What do you think are the best films -- or scenes in films -- involving food? Just click "Participate" below and tell us the movie.

If you can find a trailer or clip of the film on YouTube, click the "Video" button and include that embed code. Together we'll compile a great repository of food on film.

Food on Film

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"Babette's Feast" (1988)

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First stop: Denmark, and a quiet, lustrous gem called "Babette's Feast" (1988). Based on a story by Isak Dinesen, and directed by Gabriel Axel, this is a fable of two aging sisters who've given their lives to religion, never venturing from their town of birth. A young French woman named Babette comes into their midst and ends up performing an act of astonishing grace and selflessness. To celebrate the birthday of the sisters' beloved, late pastor, Babette invites them and a few other townsfolk to share in a magnificent meal, the greater significance of which soon becomes clear. (Don't miss the old general's speech at the conclusion- it is unforgettable). -- John Farr

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First stop: Denmark, and a quiet, lustrous gem called "Babette's Feast" (1988). Based on a story by Isak Dinesen, and directed by Gabriel Axel, this is a fable of two aging sisters who've given their lives to religion, never venturing from their town of birth. A young French woman named Babette comes into their midst and ends up performing an act of astonishing grace and selflessness. To celebrate the birthday of the sisters' beloved, late pastor, Babette invites them and a few other townsfolk to share in a magnificent meal, the greater significance of which soon becomes clear. (Don't miss the old general's speech at the conclusion- it is unforgettable).

-- John Farr

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Comments

[TheGripester]

03:38 PM on 05/05/2010

Eat Drink Man Woman is the best by far, both in story and celebration of what food really means. Also the Mexican cuisine remake Tortilla Soup, which is scene-for-scene, practically word-for-translated-word the same film, spookily showing how similar the two traditions are in their cultural approach to food and family.

[Aerows]

07:38 PM on 05/04/2010

Fried Green Tomatoes should have been included for their rendition of barbecue. Delightful movie, and centers around a restaurant and the titular dish.

That it was not included makes this a bogus poll.

[imatoz]

01:51 PM on 05/03/2010

The list isn't valid since it is missing La Grande Bouffe, Delicatessen, Tin Drum, and of course, Parents.

[Aerows]

07:38 PM on 05/04/2010

Fried Green Tomatoes.

[erinsf]

01:10 PM on 05/03/2010

I am voting for Hannibal and Julia/Julia...which should be on this list!

[klbrz]

10:33 PM on 05/02/2010

That was fun, thanks. How about My Dinner With Andre? One of my favorites, but I think I might be one of the few. :(

[Yalegirl03]

09:43 PM on 05/02/2010

Oh, Chocolat also belongs on this list I think.

[Yalegirl03]

09:41 PM on 05/02/2010

Babette's Feast is one of my favorite movies. It is such a beautiful story of love, friendship, faith and the power of an act of generosity and love can bring a community together. It makes me cry everytime.

[lmab]

08:53 PM on 05/02/2010

Le Grande Bouffe......

[Nathaniel Mills]

07:30 PM on 05/02/2010

"A Chef In Love".

[heroine addict]

06:51 PM on 05/02/2010

Ahhhhh... Just had to youtube the "Dinner Scene" clip from Big Night after reading and commenting on this article. Talk about food p0rn,

just watching it made me flush....

[heroine addict]

06:38 PM on 05/02/2010

Big Night FTW!

[bsteels]

02:41 PM on 05/02/2010

How could you leave off Ratatouille??

[John Farr]

03:30 PM on 05/02/2010

it is worthy...you're right!

[Aerows]

07:39 PM on 05/04/2010

Fried Green Tomatoes

[sabrinatee]

01:53 PM on 05/02/2010

Mostly Martha, aka La Bella Martha, remade into the execrable No Reservations, a very BAD food movie; Tampopo, a Japanese movie about ramen, gangsters and more; Eat Drink Man Woman, an Ang Lee movie about a Chinese chef and his daughters, not to be confused with the execrable remake Tortilla Soup; and the best one of all, Babette's Feast, a Danish film about an austere religious community transformed by the sumptuous feast made for them by their housekeeper.

[John Farr]

03:33 PM on 05/02/2010

you have...good taste!

[InedaName]

10:49 PM on 05/01/2010

"How To Cook Your Life" is a documentary about the Zen Buddhist philosophy of food and cooking. There is hardly a more peaceful and meditative place than a Zen kitchen.

[John Farr]

11:37 AM on 05/02/2010

is the food good?

[ginger613]

09:28 PM on 05/01/2010

Babette's Feast, Eat Drink Man Woman (Tortilla Soup is a really good re-make, especially food wise) Like Water For Chocolate, Big Night, and an obscure Georgian movie called A Chef in Love. I've never seen Tompopo but I'm going to now!

My sweetheart and I referred to these movies as "food porn" because they make you want to eat.

[John Farr]

11:41 AM on 05/02/2010

is a chef in love on dvd?

[ginger613]

07:44 PM on 06/04/2010

yes, that's how I saw it.