La Passion de Dodin Bouffant, with Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche: Reviews and trailer

La Passion de Dodin Bouffant, the new film by director Trần Anh Hùng, has hardly been released before it's already causing quite a stir. After winning the Prix de la Mise en Scène at the Cannes Film Festival, the feature has been chosen to represent France at the Oscars, in the Best Foreign Film category. Starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel, the film celebrates love and gastronomy. The result will be released in cinemas on November 8.

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The story follows Eugénie, played by Juliette Binoche, an exceptional cook who has worked alongside the famous gastronome Dodin, played by Benoît Magimel, for 20 years. Over time, a love affair develops between them, closely linked to their shared love of gastronomy. Together, they create delicious, flavorful dishes that amaze the world's greatest gourmets. However, Eugénie, eager for freedom, never wanted to marry Dodin. Dodin decided to give her a unique gift: to cook for her.

It's always intriguing to discover a French film by a director with a foreign background (Trần Anh Hùng is Franco-Vietnamese). These are often unique works, as is La Passion de Dodin Bouffant. Right from the opening sequence, the film's poetic and generous staging captivates. For fifteen flawlessly choreographed minutes, Eugénie and Dodin prepare a feast of Homeric generosity. The sequence oozes passion and... makes you hungry!

Food is at the heart of Vietnamese director Trần Anh Hùng's new film. You could even say it's the main character. Around them gravitate Eugénie and Dodin, living in a château where meals punctuate daily life, and where a lovely flirtation develops between the two.

The staging of the cooking scenes is ecstatic, filmed like the work of a goldsmith. Lovers of good food will be delighted! Each ingredient is filmed as a valuable artifact, and both Binoche and Magimel's characters convey a great deal of love through food.

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The staging is simple, yet highly evocative and full of detail. It's a sensory cinema from which you can't remain indifferent. The textures, the sounds of food being cut by a thin-bladed knife. Great care is taken with the sound design. It's amusing to see that the staging is as meticulous as Dodin's cooking. The Prix de la Mise en Scène is richly deserved!

Nevertheless, we sense that Trần Anh Hùng sometimes struggles to direct his actors, who aren't always spot-on, but the journey is almost mystical, for characters and viewers alike. We'd almost like to ask for more!

Trailer for The Passion of Dodin Bouffant:

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