I must begin by apologizing to Jessica of Yumorama: About a month or so ago, she asked if we (as in food bloggers) should go to watch Julie & Julia. My answer was on the lines of “not too enthusiastic”. That was mainly because the food related movie I wanted to watch this season was Food, Inc (which I blogged here). So, why change my mind? Well, it wasn’t because I changed my mind but, rather, some showers that hit Vancouver last weekend after a heat wave. Without much to do (actually, I could have pulled out some old games but chose not to), I went to the movies and the other option was… G.I. Joe. You can safely guess which one I watched…
Before we go on with the movie itself, some very important notes…
- I am not particularly fond of French food. However, this is mainly because of my (mis)conception. I see French food as that over elaborate cuisine. Of course, places like Café Salade de Fruites have proved me wrong, to a certain extent.
- Though I have heard of Julia Child in the past, it wasn’t until this movie that I particularly paid attention to her.
- Julie Powell? Julie, who?
- I have a sister called Julia. Totally irrelevant to this post, but…
By now, I am sure most people have an idea of what this movie is about. After all, the ads already tell most of it; if not, you can simply do a search on Julie Powell. So, to me, this movie is more about the details. But, there was one thing I wasn’t expecting: the audience. See, when I walked in, it was still empty and was able to see the people walking in. Now, I wasn’t expecting teenagers, what I wasn’t expecting was that most people in the room were easily over 60. I guess the Julie Powell part isn’t enticing to people in the 30′s…
Anyway, about the movie itself. Since it can easily be broken down into two, I will start with Julia Child’s part. Most people have mentioned this is the “interesting” part of the movie. After all, it is about somebody in another country and how she (and her husband) lived there. From that perspective, I will have to say it was quite captivating, how she “grew” from being a gourmet to cook to write a book and finally have it published. After all, as mentioned in the movie “Julia Child wasn’t always Julia Child”. The book publishing part might be particularly remarkable: It was a completely different time period and completely different from nowadays and the flurry of celebrity chefs… Another charming part of Julia’s part of the story is that of Julia Child’s husband, Paul Child. I will have to admire both of them for all the support both had for each other, in good times (like him encouraging Julia to try cooking) and in “bad” times (Julia encouraging Paul to not despair.
As for Julie Powell’s side, it shows her beginning starting with her as a “public servant” and how she started blogging. I must remind everybody this was circa 2002, just after the events of September 11, easily a time where most people would be depressed. While probably not as charming as Julia Child’s, some parallels can be drawn between the two, the most obvious one being that of cooking. However, aside from cooking, there is also Julie’s husband, who, in a similar way, provided her with support on bad times. One of the major criticism about this part of the movie is Julie’s meltdown/breakdown. I feel this is not deserved, unlike Julia Child’s part – or rather, people’s idea of Julia Child, Julie (back then) is a regular person who also had their own trials and tribulations.
There is a third part of the movie that people forget: The food! This isn’t similar to a TV show in, say, Food TV, so there won’t be any cooking from scratch; instead, it is about people around the food/end result. Regardless, I was particularly impressed with how some of the dishes were shown (of course, just like special effects, you have food decorators) and the onion scene was hilarious. Though I wished it was shown a bit more, it would have “broken” that Julie/Julia balance.
Overall, it is an interesting movie about two people’s life, one famous, one to-be. The two and a half hours were entertaining; however, I am not sure if it is a movie I would watch in a theatre. Well, this movie is not about visuals, it is not about sound. It is about the story of people. Likewise, I do not think it is a movie for everybody. To a lot of people, this movie might be too dramatic, too boring. Did I enjoy it because I am a food blogger? May be, may be not. I am simply enthusiastic about the food…
For more details about Julia Powell and Julie Powell, check these following:
My Life in France, Julia Childs autobiography with Alex Prud’homme – which Julia’s part of the movie was based on.
Master the Art of French Cooking, the book with the recipes Julie Powell cooked.
Julie Powell’s entry in Wikipedia.
If you like food/cooking related movies, my suggestions will include Ratatouille, Babette’s Feast (currently in my to-watch list) and Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.
Food, Inc.
by KimHo on July 12, 2009 · 3 comments under: Comments,Movies,Random
I am sure that, for a food bloogers, aside from their personal, to watch movie list, the movie to watch is Julie & Julia, a story of Julia Child and Julie Powell who, according to Wikipedia, began the Julie/Julia Project, a Web log chronicling her attempt to cook all the recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which the movie is based upon. Now, I don’t have anything against the movie, I am sure a lot of people will go to watch it (whether I will be going to is still on debate). Personally, I like more action and comedy type movies; if I want to watch drama, I just tune to one of the US news channels… Instead, my food related movie to watch this movie season (*) is Food, Inc., a documentary about the food industry in the US. Here are my thoughts.
(*) – Technically, it was released in Canada mid/late last year; however, it generated so little buzz that I didn’t even realised it was shown…
First “problem” I ran into was finding a movie theatre that will be showing it. And, out of the dozen or so in Metro Vancouver, only one was playing it. And it was not Tinseltown 12 in the International Village (near Stadium Skytrain station), which usually shows independent movies. Instead, it was a Fifth Avenue Cinema, a small theatre near Kitsilano. How small? I think there were about 200 seats at most. And it was packed full in the 7:30 p.m. showing I went to! (Good thing I took transit this time, as it forced myself to leave early). Of course, I won’t expect it to compete against any blockbuster. However, at least, I would have expected some level of attention similar to Fahrenheit 9/11 or An Inconvenient Truth. But, alas…
Now, to the movie itself: It is about the food industry in the US and, while it is not directly about Canada, to a certain extent, it “hits” us too when you consider that a lot of food found here are US grown/manufactured. Go to the supermarket and you will see the same brands as the US, even if they are local brands, a lot of the ingredients are the same and, finally, despite a lot of produce are grown locally, we import a lot from the US. For example, without realizing it, I grabbed a clamshell of strawberries from a local supermarket and, when I came home, I noticed it was grown in the US. I was slightly confused at this, specially considering that a couple of weeks ago, there were reports that some of the local crops were starting to rot because “nobody is willing to take them in (on that note, after that report, I purchased 1 Kg of local grown strawberries and, while not as pretty looking as the one in the clamshell, they tasted way better).
So, what about the food industry itself? When I was growing up, one of those “funny” jokes was related to laws and sausages: if you like them, don’t try to find out who they are made. In this case, how some of the food we consume ended up in our plate. In the effort for “cheaper” and “standardised” (for example, fast food/chains), how corporations grow it. OK, let me rephrase that: it is not longer about “growing food” rather, as the movie points out, it is now about “manufacturing food” and taking control of the food chain. On that point, one of the most disgusting topics mentioned was that of Monsanto being able to patent genes of some grains (in the movie, soy was mentioned; in Canada, a ruling about canola) and, if another field that does not use their seeds end up having some of the genes (natural cross-pollination, for example), Monsanto can sue the farmer. And, due to the high cost of litigation (“whoever has the more $$$ “wins”), the farmers would usually settle out of court rather than fight.
And then there is food accessibility: how it is possible that unhealthy food tends to be cheaper, more accessible, than fresh ingredients to be able to cook a meal? Again, in the movie, it describes a family who are always on the run (due to the different jobs to make ends meet), to the point they don’t even cook. Instead, they just go to a nearby fast food for “cheap” food. But it has taken its toll: one of the members of the family has diabetes and the cost of drugs takes a huge chunk of the family income (which, oddly, creates a vicious circle).
I could go on and on but rather than doing that, I think it is better for you to watch that movie. Caveat Emptor, some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart. Likewise, the movie is one-sided, as the major food growers, errrr…., manufacturers declined requests for interviews for the movie. But, regardless, it would be a good idea to watch the movie to have a better understanding on how things end up in our plate. It will not be pretty (think shock therapy) and entertainment value might be nil for most but, as with most documentary, it is not about entertainment…
Tagged as: Random