The Taste Of Others

Life Imitates Art Imitates Life
THE TASTE OF OTHERS may not be for the taste of everyone, but for those who delight in the oh-so-French form of character examination, then this is a film for you. From the very beginning of the movie we feel as if we just dropped in on some French people who are having varying discussions that seem extemporaneous, loose and unrelated: nouveau riche businessman Castella (Jean-Pierre Bacri) discusses mundane notions with his clueless 'decorator' wife Beatrice (Brigitte Catillon); Castella's worldly bodyguard Bruno (Alain Chabat) passes the time with his rather boring buddy Franck (Gerard Lanvin); middle aged actress and English teacher Clara (Anne Alvaro) pines away at how her life in the arts is aimless; bartender Manie (director Agnes Jaoui) ponders why men are so fickle as lovers...you get the picture. But the beauty of this film is how the story interweaves these various isolated 21st Century people's lives and in doing so makes many valid comments on the importance of the arts...

Exquisite
I saw the Taste of Others in the theater and it was simply exquisite. I haven't enjoyed a film as much as this one in years. All of the acting is very strong, the character development is subtle and intelligent, and throughout the film good taste reigns, without any of the banal excesses that film-makers so often resort to.

I can hardly wait until it comes out on DVD so I can watch again!

M. Castella: One Day Love Changes His Life Forever
The film is slow-moving; the film is talky, and it's French! And the guy's name is M. Castella.... Well, the whole premise may look unpromising enough to chase away some of the potential audeince from theaters. No, wait, the film is good. Really.

"The Taste of Others" follows M. Castella, president of small factory, who is not so happy, surrounded by bodyguards and very nervous, always bickering wife. One day, a middle-aged woman Clara, his business consaltant hired to give M. Castella English lesson, comes to his office, but Castella, reluctant to learn, turns her away. What a fool, later he realizes, when he accidentally meets Clara on stage of a play he went to see -- she is so beautiful!!! Now he decides to take lessons, and even writes a poem (of love, of course). Clara at first is annoyed, courted by uncooth M. Castella, who seems living in a very different world than hers, but the day will come when she realises that she was mistaken, doing great injustice to...

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