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Denmark · 2021
1h 44m
Director Christoffer Boe
Starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Charlie Gustafsson, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, Dag Malmberg
Genre Drama, Romance
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Maggie and Carsten are in love, have two wonderful children, and run their own gourmet restaurant: Malus. They want it all. And they have it all... almost. They are missing the coveted Michelin Star. It has been their dream. And they will gamble everything on it to win.
With A Taste of Hunger, it is clear that Boe loves food. The film celebrates the culinary arts, as the cinematography lovingly displays exquisite dishes that please the eye as much as the taste buds. He studies how light and sound may affect taste. His approach to gastronomy is as meticulous as the dishes his protagonist prepares.
The film is truly a feast for the eyes and ears.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
It’s a tribute to the sizzle of the central relationship that you want all that silly plot stuff to go away so Maggi and Carsten can kiss some more. They’re the main course, and the most zestful one, in an alluring but overcooked feast.
Los Angeles Times by Katie Walsh
Greis-Rosenthal delivers a fantastic and fierce performance as Maggie, and it’s impossible to take your eyes off of her, even when she shares the frame with Coster-Waldau. Thanks to her compelling screen presence, and Boe’s dramatically dazzling aesthetic, A Taste of Hunger is a delectable cinematic treat, one that deserves to be savored.
Paste Magazine by Lex Briscuso
Coster-Waldau and Greis-Rosenthal have a fierce chemistry and passion that coats every conversation they have with one another, whether it comes from a place of love or, later, of disdain. They push each other to their limits in nearly every scene, upping the ante with each glance and loaded word.
The result certainly isn’t fast food, but neither is it fine dining.
The passion for the food, the dream, and each other that fueled the beginning of the story is less vibrant when the details are revealed.
Yes, there are surprises and a scene crackles, here and there. But the tony haute cuisine milieu can fool you into thinking that there’s more to this than the chic, perfectly-presented appetizer this is.
The New York Times by Teo Bugbee
The effect is a movie that resembles nothing so much as the centerpiece of the Malus menu — a hot dog made with elevated ingredients.
Match courage with courage... meet cunning with cunning!
A darker version of the classic children's fairy tale of a wooden puppet that transforms into a real living boy.