KINO favorites: Top 10 food scenes in film
October 2, 2017
In the movies, as often in life, food means more than just food.
When a director lays out a meal for us on screen, it can be a metaphor for family and community, a set up for betrayal or a expression of identity: economic, cultural or even sexual.
For the latest edition of KINO Favorites, we picked our 10 top culinary moments from the movies. We dined out on the best food scenes in cinema.
A cannoli is worth a thousand words
Food is the ultimate expression of humanity. We are, after all, the only animal that cooks.
The family meal, the intimate dinner, the public restaurant: these are scenes both universally recognizable and, in their particulars (which fork to use, rice or pasta, etc.), entirely specific in time, place and mood.
So it's no surprise that directors turn to food when they want to make a point about character or society. One cannoli, after all, can be worth a thousand words.
We selected our movie menu based less on personal gustatory preference then on directorial intent, picking scenes where filmmakers got the greatest dramatic impact out of a meal. So we have scenes where food is a tool for slapstick, a lever for social upheaval, a harbinger of violence or a stand-in for sex. We tried to vary the palate, mixing heavy drama with light comedy, dread with delight. Many of these scenes are classics, others a more acquired taste.
But don't expect cooking tips from this show. We did find out the best way to cut garlic for a pasta sauce (hint: use a razor) but most of our scenes wouldn't pass health inspection. After all, Hannibal Lecter is no Jamie Oliver.
Take a look and give us your own Michelin rating. Did your favorite food scenes make the cut? What cinema courses would you add to our meal and which would you leave out? Come dine with us.