Receiving the Best Director award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung said he was always confident his films would be a hit.
Three decades after winning the Caméra d'Or (Golden Camera) award at Cannes with The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), director Tran Anh Hung continues to make history at the world's most prestigious film event.
The Pot au Feu (also known as La Passion de Dodin Bouffant ) is set in the French culinary world of 1885. The film is based on Marcel Rouffe's 1924 novel The Passionate Epicure about a fictional character, inspired by the famous French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.
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| French director of Vietnamese origin Tran Anh Hung receives Cannes 2023 award. |
The film revolves around the love story between chef Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) and gourmet Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel). As they grow fond of each other, their relationship results in delicious dishes that impress even the world's most famous chefs.
In an interview with Variety , director Tran Anh Hung discussed the challenges of making a film about food, along with his dream of making a film about Buddha.
Did you expect “Pot au Feu” to receive much praise from Cannes?
Forgive my bluntness, but every time I make a movie, I believe it will be a hit. I always think people will love it.
Why did you want to make a film about food?
My first challenge was to make a film unlike any other. The idea was to incorporate food into a love story, and to see how a man and a woman who have shared a passion for the culinary arts for over 25 years form this sacred bond.
Why did you want to adapt Marcel Rouffe's novel?
When I read this novel, there were a few pages where he talked about food that touched me and inspired me. The movie starts where the book started, it's like a prequel.
The Pot au Feu features a 40-minute sequence detailing the meticulous preparation of a meal. Never seen that before, even on a cooking show?
My clear goal was to show something we've never seen before, while also being extremely ordinary, without any added spectacular elements.
I thought if we shot this choreography cinematically it would be gorgeous, like a ballet.
Pierre Gagnaire and Michel Naves - our on-set consultants, were very nervous when they saw us start by filming cooked meals and then filming raw ingredients.
We used a lot of food. For example, for the Pot au feu (French stew) we used 40 kg of meat.
What did you do with all that food?
We ate it all. So we had the best meals on set.
How to reunite the acting couple Juliette Binoche with Benoît Magimel, after many years?
They are all great actors and complete professionals. They quickly got into their characters.
During filming, there were some shocking moments, such as when Juliette kissed Dodin even though it wasn't in the script.
Benoît was overwhelmed and came to me to ask: "It wasn't in the script, was it?".
Or sometimes, Benoît forgets his lines and says to me, "Oh sorry, I got lost in her eyes."
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| A scene from the movie "The Pot au Feu" by French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung. (Source: Écran total) |
After the success of this movie, do you have any other dream projects?
I dream of making a film about Buddha. Because he is so little known and I thought it would be interesting because his spiritual legacy spans 25 centuries.
It is extraordinary. Buddha healed so many people on this earth and his teachings deserve to be known.
Also, I want to make a movie in Vietnam with an all-female cast!
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