The French drama “The Pot-au-Feu,” one of the breakout hits at the Cannes Film Festival and one of the movies that could represent France at the Academy Awards, has received a new title, Variety has learned exclusively.
Now under its new title — “The Taste of Things” – the movie will also have a qualifying run to be considered in all general categories, including best picture.
Starring Oscar winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) and Cesar winner Benoît Magime (“Pacification”), the movie received critical acclaim after its premiere, winning the best director prize for French-Vietnamese filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng, best known for helming the “The Scent of Green Papaya” (1993), the first and only Vietnamese nominee for best international feature.
Written by Hùng and loosely based on Marcel Rouffe’s 1924 novel “The Passionate Epicure,” it follows the life of Dodin Bouffant (Magimel), a preeminent chef who has been living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie (Binoche) for over two decades. Growing fonder of one another, their bond turns into a romance, giving rise to delicious dishes that impress even the world’s most illustrious chefs.
While the movie will compete with Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” to become France’s official selection, “The Taste of Things” could appeal to international industry voters with a solid chance to break out in other categories, like acting, screenplay and cinematography.
Following its win, the culinary love story was acquired by IFC Films and Sapan Studio in June. It’s one of the first titles co-acquired in the two studios’ production and acquisition deal. Sapan Studio is run by former AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan.
Variety film critic Guy Lodge praised the film for holding its audience “entirely on the pleasures of beauty, vicarious indulgence and, eventually, the human care inherent in haute cuisine.”
Speaking to Variety during the festival, the director said his “first challenge was to make a film that didn’t look like any others.” Alluding to the opening scene, he said he strived to capture “this choreography in a cinematic way” so that “it would become magnificent, like a ballet.”
Olivier Delbosc produced, with a U.S. release date to be announced.
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.