A Chef in Love (1996) User Reviews

Beautiful movie

[guingel · 8/10 · 3 May 2006]

This is one of the most visually appealing movies I have ever seen. I love the style. It's very rich, with lots of rich colors and elegant scenarios and beautiful foods, but at the same time sort of spare, due to the severe landscapes and settings. Makes for a beautiful contrast. The actors also add to the visual appeal, they fit the look of the movie very well, have the same sort of unusual aestheticism.

The story is also an engrossing one, with a fulfilling and fascinating love story. Personally, I'm not that fond of the parts where the film gets figurative or symbolic, I just have a hard time getting meaning out of it--but it isn't too ambiguous, and the style of the film certainly makes it well worth a little confusion.

It's also very interesting to get to see Georgia, which provides an interesting perspective on some of the political events shown in the film. It's an unusual setting, very cool.

I just love to look at this movie. It's really beautiful. And the food always looks amazing. Overall, charming.

Simple and lovable. And Tasty. Eat well before

[C.N.C. · 7/10 · 15 February 1999]

This film is not a great film, but one can enjoy these two hours watching it. Its texture is colourful, its taste is marvelous, its rewind is cute. The story is simple but full of life scent, of passion for life. Nice, uncompromised meals fill the frames and they speak of a nice, uncompromised living. The characters do not seem to be real but in their simplicity they persuade us that simple down to earth values are the sence of life. Bon appetit!

Elegant and sad

[xredgarnetx · 7/10 · 11 February 2006]

What an odd and absolutely delightful movie. An opera singer who also is a gourmand sets up shop in Russia, just in time for the revolution. Shot on what appear to be actual locations, A CHEF IN LOVE features an aging Lothario with Woody Allen hair falling head over heels for a Russian princess and returning with her to her homeland. He quickly runs afoul of the insurgents but resists his paramour's efforts to leave Russia and set up shop elsewhere. The movie is full of great comic moments and some truly sad ones. And if you love food, you will love this movie. Wait until you see the feasts this guy dreams up! The actress playing the Russian princess is particularly interesting to watch, as she does everything she can to keep her goofy lover from landing in front of a firing squad.

Sumptuous, but empty in too many places

[CaptEcco · 24 August 2006]

A French chef (a great performance by Pierre Richard) goes to Georgia at the turn of the 20th century to look for new tastes. He meets a woman, they fall in love, he opens a restaurant, and then the Russian Revolution spills into the country. This story is told in flashback as a modern-day art dealer preparing a Pirosmani exhibition reads about his family's past. A CHEF IN LOVE is the only Georgian film ever nominated for an Oscar, and it's easy to see why. It has sumptuous photography (by one of the best Georgian cinematographers, Giorgi Beridze) and the sort of historical love story they seem to go to pieces over, yet it also plays everything very safely and forces some notion of "exoticism" on itself while sticking to a plot that feels right at home in the Hollywood cookie factory. I liked it more than the other Djordjadze film I've seen, 27 MISSING KISSES, but I found something curiously hollow about the presentation. I also thought the flashback structure was pretty useless, except to introduce a dramatic third-act revelation that anyone who has ever seen a movie will be able to predict within the first five minutes of the film. Still, with so much great footage of Georgia and all the wonderful music and food (this movie made me extremely hungry) and the addition of Richard's great work, I find it difficult to dislike, and I don't think it should be avoided, especially when it's probably easier to find in the USA than any other Georgian film.

A Frenchman with a Rabelasian love for life, food, and a beautiful princess falls in love with the country of Georgia.

[sundplega · 9/10 · 3 March 2005]

Pascal has a marvelous enthusiasm for life, and when he travels to the country of Georgia, he feels himself finally at home: he says that before he was like a cloud, floating here and there, but in Georgia, he finally could float down and stay. As in a fairy tale, he and the Princess fall in love, and he opens a restaurant where he creates beautiful and delicious food. All seems perfect, until the Revolution intrudes, exemplified by the cloddish Zigmund. Then we see that Pascal makes choices that will determine the rest of his life, that of the Princess, and also for those who come after. Many comic scenes are a delight in the movie, especially Pascal's revenge at the picnic. But tragic elements linger in the background. Music holds the film together --especially Georgian folk music setting an atmosphere that, like fine cuisine, will outlast ideologies. The movie is beautifully photographed with memorable and brightly colored scenes of food, love, and the Georgian countryside. Surprising that this movie is not better known.

Wonderfully different kind of movie

[mark-337 · 9/10 · 14 March 2000]

It is always nice to view a film unlike the vast majority of films one normally has the chance to see in the U. S. This is one of those films. Pierre Richard is great is a comedic, yet serious, role. And the entire mood/ambiance of the film is so consistently rich! A very enjoyable experience.

Recipe lacked key ingredient

[bouncingoffwall · 4/10 · 4 October 2003]

This film lacked something I couldn't put my finger on at first: charisma on the part of the leading actress. This inevitably translated to lack of chemistry when she shared the screen with her leading man. Even the romantic scenes came across as being merely the actors at play. It could very well have been the director who miscalculated what he needed from the actors. I just don't know.

But could it have been the screenplay? Just exactly who was the chef in love with? He seemed more enamored of his culinary skills and restaurant, and ultimately of himself and his youthful exploits, than of anybody or anything else. He never convinced me he was in love with the princess.

I was disappointed in this movie. But, don't forget it was nominated for an Oscar, so judge for yourself.

Flat, unconvincing, full of cliches

[glondon-849-768748 · 5/10 · 18 January 2020]

A Frenchman in Georgia. This opens up so many possibilities, chances for humor, joy, deep and meaningful emotional engagement. Instead, the film fails to deliver any of the above. The acting of Pierre Richard is OK but so stereotypically French it makes it look like a grotesque (same goes for pretty much all other parts). The other actors are just meh. My biggest problem with this movie is its use of predictable cliches and no attempt to be even remote convincing. There are no nuances, no space for the viewer to explore. If this movie was food it would have been a McDonald's hamburger.