The Taste of Others
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| The Taste of Others | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Agnès Jaoui |
| Produced by | Christian Bérard Charles Gassot Jacques Hinstin |
| Written by | Agnès Jaoui Jean-Pierre Bacri |
| Starring | Anne Alvaro Jean-Pierre Bacri Alain Chabat Agnès Jaoui Gérard Lanvin |
| Music by | Jean-Charles Jarrel |
| Cinematography | Laurent Dailland |
| Editing by | Hervé de Luze |
| Distributed by | Pathé |
| Running time | 112 min |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| IMDb profile | |
The Taste of Others, or Le Goût des Autres', is a 2000 French film. It was directed by Agnès Jaoui, and written by her and Jean-Pierre Bacri.
It stars Jean-Pierre Bacri, Anne Alvaro, Alain Chabat, Agnès Jaoui, Gérard Lanvin and Christiane Millet.
The movie won the César Award for Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Writing in 2001, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
[edit] Plot
Castella (Bacri) owns a steel factory. To conduct a deal with Iranians, he is told he must learn English, so he hires Clara (Alvaro) to teach it to him. His wife, Angelique (Millet), is an interior decorator who is working on Castella's sister's apartment, and loves her dog. They go to the theatre, where their niece is performing in a production of Bérénice, accompanied by his driver, Bruno (Chabat), and his temporary bodyguard, Franck (Lanvin). While there, he sees Clara, who is an actress. Meanwhile, Franck sends Bruno to the bar to buy cigarettes. The barmaid, Manie (Jaoui), remembers having had sex with Bruno, but Bruno regrets that he does not remember her.
After the performance, Clara goes to the bar with her friends, including Antoine and Valerie, and their conversation reveals that she is afraid of never working again; after all, she is forty years old. Bruno, whose fiance is doing an internship in America, spends the night with Manie, who it turns out sells drugs on the side, and is frequently visited by clients. Previously uninterested in theatre, Castella develops a fascination with Clara's bohemian lifestyle and attends another production she appears in. He joins her and her friends for lunch. However, his cultural ignorance makes him a laughing stock. Clara confides to her friend Manie that he is thick.
Castella's English is poor at first, but he soon makes progress. They move the classes to an English tea room from the office, and to mark his progress he writes a poem dedicated to Clara; however, he is dismayed when she says that she does not share the feelings expressed in the poem. One day she waits and he doesn't show up. Meanwhile, Franck meets Manie through Bruno and they start a relationship. Bruno practices his flute, which he plays in a band.
Castella and Angelique are drifting apart, as indicated by how she doesn't like a painting he bought from Clara's artist friend. Clara starts to feel that her friends are taking advantage of Castella. She lands the lead part in Hedda Gabler and invites him to the opening. After seeing an empty chair all night, she is overjoyed to see him in the audiance. Meanwhile, Franck's contract finishes, and he breaks off his relationship with Manie.
