Right now, if youâve heard of Tran Anh Hungâs sumptuous romantic drama âThe Taste of Things,â itâs probably for one of two reasons. Maybe you remember that Hung won the best director prize when the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. (Back then it was titled âThe Pot-au-Feu,â the name of a savory French beef stew prominently featured in the story.)
Or you might recall that, a couple of months ago, France chose âThe Taste of Thingsâ as its entry for the international feature Oscar, selecting it over the highly regarded courtroom drama âAnatomy of a Fall,â a movie that took the Cannes festivalâs top honor, the Palme dâOr.
The two movies havenât been widely seen outside of film festivals, so youâll have to trust me when I tell you that Franceâs selection committee faced a difficult decision. And yet, sitting across from Juliette Binoche in a small booth at a quiet West Hollywood hotel restaurant, itâs hard to see how they could have made any other choice.
Consider this: The filmâs delicate love story between Dodin, a renowned chef (played by BenoĂźt Magimel), and Binocheâs Eugenie, Dodinâs cook, muse, life (and, if he had his way, wife), contained everything audiences associate with France.
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âYou have food,â I tell Binoche ... and she takes the baton. âYou have love,â she says. âAnd,â I continue, âyou have Juliette Binoche.â She laughs. âWhatâs more ...â and she finishes the thought, âFrench than that?â
âThe funny thing,â Binoche tells me, âis that in France Iâm considered more international. But everywhere else in the world, Iâm France. I used to fight it. But now I think I have to accept where I come from and embrace it. Thatâs my culture. Still,â she pauses, considering. âI feel that my heart doesnât have any borders.â
Binoche exposes her heart in âThe Taste of Thingsâ â more so than I realized before we met. The movie introduces Eugenie and Dodin in a leisurely scene that finds them preparing a lavish dinner for friends at their rustic chateau in the Loire Valley. Itâs the late 19th century, gastronomic genius is in full bloom and, as the sequence unfolds, we learn about the relationship the characters have to each other and the food they create.
Their love runs deep. But Eugenie sets the terms, keeping her own bedroom and refusing Dodinâs persistent entreaties to marriage. I ask Binoche why she resists. She mulls over the question.
âIâm asking a woman who has never been married,â I offer. âSo Iâm guessing youâre good at this.â
Binoche laughs. âNo, in fact, I always wanted to get married,â she says. âI always dreamt to be married. And I waited and waited and waited. And Iâve been offered when it was a time to separate.â She smiles at the memory. ââWhy didnât you ask me at the beginning?â
âIn the case of Eugenie, she is smart enough to understand that a little bit of resistance keeps the passion,â Binoche continues. âSometimes, itâs better to not let everything happen.â
The coupleâs dynamic onscreen is informed by the fact that Binoche and Magimel were together once, meeting while making the 1999 French film âChildren of the Century,â an account of the doomed love affair between novelist George Sand and poet Alfred de Musset. They separated in 2003, four years after the birth of their daughter, Hana.
I had heard, maybe from writer-director Hung, that Binoche and Magimel had remained on good terms. But when I tell this to Binoche, she flashes me a playful reproach indicating that this is not quite true. âYouâre going quite fast,â she tells me with a laugh. âBut if you want to believe that, just do.â
She has more to say on the subject.
âNo, I think itâs because we didnât speak that much over the years that it was such a relief to be able to act with him and tell him through Hungâs writing all the love I have for him, no matter what happened,â Binoche says. âAnd that meant a lot to me and for him as well.â She stops. âBut I donât know, because he never told me. But thatâs what I felt. I used this film to tell him, âI love you. And itâs all right.ââ
Magimel was not Hungâs original choice for the role. Two other actors dropped out before Hung cast him.
âItâs interesting how a film finds its actor,â Binoche says. âIt was a stroke of chance.â
Did Hung run the idea by her?
âMy agent asked me if it was OK to give the script to BenoĂźt, and I said yes, thinking he was not going to do it,â Binoche says. âThen when he said yes to it, I thought, âWhat?â and worried. I was surprised he would dare go into acting with me in a film about a long-lasting, conjugal relationship.â
âThatâs strange to me,â I say.
âThatâs a miracle to me!â Binoche answers, laughing.
So after more than two decades apart, you could communicate ...
â... through words written by someone else,â Binoche says, finishing my sentence. âSo, I didnât have the responsibility. I was free in a way because it was not me. But I could use those words as a medium to tell him what I wanted to express, what I couldnât express for years and years. And also for our daughter, to show her and say, âSee. We love each other.ââ
What did she think when she saw the film?
âI donât think she thought. I think she was overwhelmed,â Binoche says, describing her 23-year-old daughterâs reaction. âVery touched, of course. And I think it healed something. Seeing her parents, no matter what happened in the past, that thereâs still love. And at the end of all the game of life, all the game of relationships, thereâs love. And thatâs what counts in between people. I donât have hate or regret. Itâs gone. My heart is transformed. And I think thatâs what we need to do as human beings. At the end of the day, we need to reconcile. So, to me, this film was a gift in that respect.â
Over dinner at the Telluride Film Festival, Hung had told me that Binoche was quite the gourmet. She shakes her head.
âI love eating,â she says, taking a forkful of her miso salmon. âItâs one of the pleasures of life. Itâs what makes us human. But Iâm a better cook on film than I am in life.â
Talking about Los Angeles, Binoche will enthuse about many things â the weather (of course), friends, the contrasts in traditions.
âBut Iâm not in love with your food,â she says, laughing heartily. âEven though it is tremendous ... you know ...â
She canât finish the thought, probably due to a complete lack of conviction.
âI find it difficult,â she finally says.
What about a good Mexican meal?
âItâs always the same â avocado, avocado, avocado,â she answers, again with a burst of laughter.
When sheâs home in Paris, Binoche does cook â simple recipes, focusing on fresh ingredients. She learned from her mother, an early believer in the organic farming movement, and now she teaches her daughter, who lives with her.
âWhen you have kids, you have to cook,â she says.
But sheâs 23, I say. She can cook for you. Binoche looks at me the same way she did when I had assumed she and her ex had been on good terms.
âNow we cook for each other,â she allows, and then changes the subject.
âYou know what I like as a woman?â she asks. âWhen you see a man cooking, itâs so seductive. I believe itâs one of the best seductions ever.â
Youâre speaking from experience?
âIâm speaking from experience,â Binoche answers, laughing.
If a man wants to find his way into your heart ...
âItâs one step,â she says. âIt doesnât mean you get all the steps. But at least one step.â
The waiter interrupts. Binoche asks if I want anything else.
Do you? I counter.
Juliette Binoche stars in the French-language drama âWho You Think I Am,â about an older woman who creates a fake social media profile.
âDonât ask me ... they have cookies here,â she replies. Of course, we order them, along with coffee.
Binoche will turn 60 in March, and I wonder if she has any advice for people hitting that milestone.
âI do,â she answers firmly. âEnjoy life!â The way Binoche declares this, itâs practically a command. Itâs no coincidence that a beat after making this statement, she breaks a chocolate chip cookie in half. Itâs warm and gooey, and Binoche licks the chocolate off her fingers. Itâs a little sugary for her taste, she says, but that doesnât stop her from taking a second one off the plate.
âGetting older doesnât bother me,â Binoche says. âLife is made like that. So youâre not going to fight against it. Itâs too painful to fight against it. And also, time is bringing you other things.â
What is it bringing you?
âFor me, itâs a sort of freedom,â Binoche answers. âIâm more relaxed now than I was before. And that only comes when you can let go of certain things. It can be beautiful, I think â like opening a door to a new way of seeing life.â
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