Food has always played an important role in movies. Mr. Flip, in 1909, started the trend. A harassed and fed-up waitress shoved a pie into the face of her bully. In The Gold Rush (19235), Charlie Chaplin made a soup from his shoe. Whether as a vehicle for physical comedy or romantic depiction or using food for horror, food makes the movies we love feel even more lifelike and real.
But what is the benchmark for a good food movie? Some movies are obvious picks due to their settings. Other movies about food are more subtle. These can be for connecting us with a character or propelling a narrative.
We’ve assembled a list of the best movies about food! Enjoy!
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Spirited Away (2001)
Regardless if you have a spoon dispenser or not, Ghibli always works magic with food scenes. Ponyo was a love letter to Ham, with Kiki’s Delivery Service an ode to carby bakery wonderland. But Spirited Away makes the best tribute to the beauty of food. The movie is about a girl thrown into a fantastical, unfamiliar spirit world that she must navigate to save herself and her family – and, to an extent, the power of food. Her parents turn into pigs after eating so much dim sum. But it is the heroine who is grounded by onigiri. One iconic scene is No Face eating. He demands the food – a display of indulgence, and he is filled with every edible thing because they want his tips of gold.
Overall, always be satisfied with how Miyazaki treats food. His work is evidence of that!
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Ratatouille (2007)
Unlikely scenarios have some beauty in them. Pickles on pizza, fries in milkshakes – and there is some fun and beauty to a rat cooking high-end French cuisine. The latter is the premise of Ratatouille. The movie is about a little rat named Remy, a fantastic cook. The movie has had quite an impact culturally, and part of the movie’s legacy is visually and sonically depicting the beauty of food. To Remy, food is an experience; the same goes for food combinations. The moment Remy tastes bites of cheese and strawberries together is a marriage of shapes and squiggles, with an orchestral burst in the background.
What makes Ratatouille a quintessential food movie is the idea that cooking is open to everyone. In the film, we see it reflected in Remy. Remy has to reconcile his identity: the one who wants to cook, the rat, the brother and son, and Linguini’s friend. Ultimately, he realizes that ghost Gusteau is right: food will always come to those who love food.
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Julie & Julia (2009)
The dream team of Nora Ephron, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and Stanley Tucci is comprised of Julie & Julia! The movie was always meant to be a universal comfort movie. What makes it wonderful is the way food becomes a comfort for the characters: The Child’s excitement as she tries French cuisine and Powell’s sense of accomplishment in learning the Child’s recipes. The narrative connects Child and Powell’s lives in a heartwarming movie that realistically shows who the two women were.
The movie points out a major inflection point in modern food culture: blogging was becoming a more serious pursuit. It would later make way for the creator economy.
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Chef (2014)
This Jon Favreau-directed and starrer talks about the story of a man’s love for his son, food, and family. Frustrated with his life, he opens a Cuban sandwich-focused food truck. Chef is ultimately why and who we cook for. The great movie lesson we get is that being a great chef comes from making delicious food for yourself and your loved ones.
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Wrapping Up
We’ve rounded up four movies about the power of food. Much like movies, food provides us with a different kind of nourishment and perspective. Food is life. And food is a lot like love, too. Ergo, it’s hard to take away such love from people.
Author’s Bio:
Rosette is known for advocating a sustainable lifestyle. That’s why on her free days, she spends her time writing about sustainability efforts and other ways to help the environment thrive and heal at a time of drastic climate change.
