The Final Post

This class has given me a new perspective of food.
Looking at all of my previous blogs, I see that I understand the ways food can be
used in a movie to push the story along.
Food can do many things like can teach about other cultures (like in almost every single movie we have seen from Babbette's Feast to Once Upon a Time when we were Colored), food can bond characters, like Madame Mallory and Hassan's Dad in The Hundred Foot Journey, pull them apart, like in Primo and Secondo in big night, for love, like Mario and Martha in Mostly Martha, or simply be an extension of a character, like Tita in Like Water for Chocolate, my favorite movie we’ve watched this semester. I loved watching how magic realism interacted with the food Like Water for Chocolate.

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The plot in Like Water for Chocolate was beautifully driven by Tita’s food and showed the power of intention which
I never really thought about before when making food. I also loved hearing the lecture
about the culture before watching the movie. It gave me a solid foundation of knowledge
to watch the movie with and I felt that I appreciated it and understood it more than I would
have originally. I also LOVE a strong female protagonist.

 

As you know, I am a film student, and I love film so much because it is a universal language.
I was most fascinated when we first learned myths of genre films and the falcon of a movie.
I was especially challenged when we read about genre films as myth, which took a long time to sink in. I really had to step back and ask myself “what expectations do I have before watching
a movie when I read the genre of a film?” It’s a simple question but it really blew my mind.
I have never learned those elements in film before and now I feel that I will always remember
them before and after watching a movie.

The movies in the class became easier and easier identify elements that make it a food film.
I feel that I have learned another perspective on film, food and culture
(just as the title of the class proclaims).

Thanks!

Big Night vs Dinner Rush

Both of these movies portray the Italian- American struggle in the Restaurant Industry. Both movies teeters between the importance of true Italian dining and food to please the masses to bring in money. The films also focus on family and the conversation between immigrants on how to preserve and honor their culture in the USA.




Big Night focuses on the first generation immigrants. The brothers, Primo and Secondo, show more of the struggle of immigrants as their restaurant has little to no customers and they are running out of money. Primo values great food and Italian culture over money, and Secondo is focused on making it in America and knows what the brothers need to thrive. Primo refuses to cook to please the customer and wants them to learn the culture, similar to Luigi in Dinner Rush. Secondo can be compared to Luigi's son, Udo, who has cooks in an Italian fusion, blending cultures to create a new kind of cuisine, similar to 3rd generation Udo is not Italian, not American, but a different breed of his own.



Dinner Rush's restaurant thrives because of Udo's cooking, but the authenticity is gone, only preserved by sous-chef Duncan's cooking, which only goes to Luigi. Even though money is not a struggle in Dinner Rush, power is an issue throughout the movie. Power of who owns the restaurant, Luigi or Udo, along with Black and Blue, the gangster wanting a share due to Duncan's downfall in his gambling addiction.

The food in both movies pay an homage to Italian culture, with Primo and Secondo's falcon food being the trifle dinner meal, and Udo's lobster pasta dish. Both pleased American patrons, but Udo had to not add butter or bread at his picky ex lover's request. Both movies allow American's to share in Italian culture on way or another.




I had an easier time enjoying Dinner Rush. Big Night's pacing of the movie was not consistent throughout the movies, with some scenes being very slow and other's picking up so fast I had to backtrack. Although, did like the characters better in Big Night though. Specific scenes like Primo and Secondo fighting on the beach and the omelet scene make the movie great by showing these intimate circumstances of brotherhood. Dinner Rush's old Italian gangster story I did enjoy more. I enjoyed all of the side plots like Duncan and Nicole's romance, Jennifer (& her BAD wig) and her friend's annoying arrogance, but my favorite character would have to be Fitzgerald. He's such a well thought out character and for only being a supporting character.  The twists and turns of the plot kept me on my seat.  I also will pay money  to see Ken Roloff play a demure hitman ANY. DAY.