Food, Film and Culture: A Genre Study

by James R. Keller

Culinary imagery, much like sexual and violent imagery, is a key cinematic device used to elicit a sensory response from an audience. In many films, culinary imagery is central enough to constitute a new subgenre, defined by films in which food production, preparation, service, and consumption play a major part in the development of character, structure, or theme. This book defines the food film genre and analyzes the relationship between cinematic food imagery and various cultural constructs, including politics, family, identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and religion. Chapters examine these themes in several well-known food films, such as The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Chocolat, Babette’s Feast , and Eat Drink Man Woman , and lesser-known productions, including Felicia’s Journey, Kitchen Stories, Magic Kitchen , and Chinese Feast . The work includes a filmography of movies within the food genre.

215 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2006

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an assigned text in my Survey of Food in Film course at Boston University. Some of the essays are interesting; others, I straight up just didn't like. For a food film text, I much prefer Anne L. Bower's Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film.