A couple sacrifices everything to get a coveted Michelin star for their popular restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Cooking dramas have a way of attracting everybody’s attention. They offer a spotlight into a world completely unfamiliar to the majority of us and yet feel so close we can touch. “A Taste of Hunger” leans into that world by giving us everything we want in a cooking drama: food porn, relationship drama, neon-lit dining rooms, and gorgeous idyllic countrysides. Anchored by incredible performances from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, this story of a couple struggling to keep their relationship intact while gaining the highest possible award for a restaurant hinges on all these elements working together for a lascivious dream of a film.
Nikolaj plays Carsten, a wandering chef simply dreaming of cooking good food while working for his brother’s catering company. Only when he meets Katrine’s Maggi does she help him refine his vision into something tangible: to get a coveted Michelin star. On the eve of their Michelin star visitor, however, Carsten and Maggie’s relationship is threatened when a mysterious letter shows up at the restaurant explaining that Maggi’s in love with another man. As the pair try to salvage their Michelin rating they must also salvage their relationship.
The drama feels accordingly low stakes in the grand scheme of things. The edit of the film flips back and forth interweaving different chapters of their relationship in between the fateful Michelin night. In some instances knowing the outcome sucks the drama out of an overwrought sequence (like in the instance of a child going missing) but others continue to add character moments. In those instances, it all works together to create a perfect mélange of drama and character. The lower stakes don’t diminish the impact of the story, rather enhancing it as we narrow in on the two leads and their complicated romance.
Director Christoffer Boe takes full advantage of the avant-garde styling of Michelin star restaurants with lighting and production design. Giallo lighting abounds in every scene. Carsten and Maggi’s first meeting is a neon-soaked fever dream of chemistry and tension. Sometimes those two inclinations come off as lazy when the lighting apparatus (LED tubes that sit perfectly anywhere you put them) are part of the set acting like some sort of ambiance for the restaurant. It comes off as “striking” but anyone in the industry might consider it lazy lighting/set decorating.
The food in the film definitely lives up to snuff. Its complex designs of bizarre modern cuisine pair all sorts of foods we don’t eat and colors we don’t see. It’s bright and vivid and even if we wouldn’t eat it we still want to try it. All the food looks like it was stolen from a Chef’s Table episode.
It’s an interesting film where the camera only rests when it has to. Mimicking the rhythms of a kitchen it sweeps across the scenery, jilts and bounces through dialogue scenes, and rests only when there’s nothing left to do but soak in the atmosphere. It forces the rhythm of the film to speed up and slow down by sheer will alone but it never fails to capture its most important subject.
Man, the actors brought to this film are bringing their A-game. I must go back and watch everything Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is in because he is incredible. His gestures are minimal and realistic, often just the extra sweep of a head indicating confusion. He takes every scene and elevates it. I almost believe he was wasted on “Game of Thrones.” Luckily he’s evenly matched by Katrine Greis-Rosenthal. Her character gives her more range to work with, from playful to sharp, and she carries the brunt of the film. She’s given all the brooding scenes and while there are a few too many long neon-laced pouting scenes she makes every one work. Her disbelief anchors the audience as the whirlwind of the evening slowly catches up to her.
Even the extra cast members keep the acting hot streak alive. Charlie Gustafsson plays a secondary character that starts sincere and becomes openly hostile. His boyish face melting into a villainous demeanor. The child actors August Vinkel and Flora Augusta surprised me. They’re never too innocent or sweet. They’re never too bland. Both actors make good work of their scenes and never distract or subtract from the film entirely. It’s impressive work for a child to fit so sublimely into a project.
At times the film can feel like melodrama for the sake of melodrama. Its own narrative conventions feel contrived once or twice, but that’s so easily overlooked when you take in the specificity of the story being told. This film knows what it’s about and never wastes a second to be anything else. It’s food porn drama about a struggling relationship never strays from the path and strings together a strong combination of performances, sets, and edits for a cleverly wrought small drama. I admire a film that knows exactly what it’s about and leans into that entirely. That’s worth a Michelin star in my book!
In Theaters and On-Demand Friday, January 28th
