The Best Foodie Films

These are films that rejoice in the most exquisite details and celebrate in the delight and enjoyment of food. Films which can transport an audience to the sights, sounds and flavours of far off places.

Big Night (1996)

Stanley Tucci co-wrote, co-directed and starred in this delightful, funny, moving story about a failing Italian restaurant. The simple charm of the movie, the plight of the owners, and the loving manner in which all the food is prepared is captivating. Big Night may be set in New York but it is Italian in essence, through and through.

Tampopo (1985)

Juzo Itami's feted, funny paean to the spaghetti western focuses on a lone truck driver who rides into town to help turn around the fortunes of a widow called Tampopo. Together they set about making the perfect noodles in this Japanese classic.

Chocolat (2000)

Chocolat is often dismissed as sentimental and contrived. This is probably due to the fact that despite the French star Juliette Binoche, the French setting, and the Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom., everyone speaks perfect English. The film, however, manages to transcend its perceived flaws through wonderful performances and a gripping story. Viane (Binoche) sweeps into a sleepy little village with her young daughter, and opens up a chocolate shop. The buttoned up townsfolk are horrified at first, but are slowly won over by the melt in the mouth treats.

Despite the simple premise, Chocolat also touches on serious issues such as intolerance and bigotry, but ultimately the film maintains a heart as warm and uplifting as Viane's delicious confectionary.

Couscous (2008)

Another French film, this time by a Tunisian-born director Abdellatif Kechiche, Couscous, aka La Graine et le Mulet, follows the story of Slimane Beiji, an ageing Arab immigrant. Slimane's imminent redundancy re-awakens a long held dream to run a floating restaurant.

The glorious family feasts in this film, combined with the desire to succeed in the food world, draw favourable comparisons with Big Night. Both films manage to weave a drama of insurmountable tension around the business of running an ethnic restaurant.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Ang Lee demonstrated a knowing instinct about how to use food in an assured and satisfyingly cinematic manner with his 1993 film The Wedding Banquet. In Eat Drink Man Woman, the sensuous joy of food and its associated rituals is further examined through the story of a father and his three grown up daughters. The elaborate preparation of their Sunday dinners together acts as an expression of their unspoken thoughts and feelings. Eat Drink Man Woman was made and set in Taiwan, but it has been successfully re-made as an American film called Tortilla Soup, with Mexican food replacing the Chinese.

Babette's feast (1987)

A beautiful, brooding film from Scandanavia, Babette's Feast is a treat for all the senses. Love, warmth, longing and humour enrich the simple, humanistic story. The climactic titular feast is a sumptuous, magical resolution to a masterpiece.

The God of Cookery (1996)

A quirky, funny, satirical film from Hong Kong's master of the absurd Stephen Chow, the director of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. Cooking and martial arts meet in a film of Chaplin-esque slapstick.

Like Water For Chocolate (1992)

This Mexican film centres on the love between Tita and Pedro, which endures despite Tita's mother forbidding them to marry. When Pedro marries Tita's older sister instead, she finds herself in the unenviable position of having to make the wedding cake for the man she loves. Consequently, she pours all her repressed emotions into her cooking, with surprising results.

Sources: Factual information and dates verified by IMDb.

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