Friday, August 13, 2010

Hungry For Love



To quote one of our favorite film critics, Anthony Lane of the New Yorker: The best sex you will get all year, if that’s what you crave in your moviegoing, is between Tilda Swinton and a prawn.

After finally seeing "I Am Love," I could not agree more. No spoiler alert here. The ladies at Gastronomista HQ would far rather whet your appetite than ruin it. Suffice to say that I Am Love, or, Io Sono l'Amore, deliciously integrates its exquisite food right into the storytelling. Nary a plot point goes by without some culinary delight demanding our attention and pointing to the subtext.nally seeing "I Am Love," I could not agree more. No spoiler alert here. to the

pea cream & courgette flowers

Tilda Swinton plays Emma Recchi, a transplanted Russian beauty who has married into an Italian family of unimaginable wealth. Having fulfilled her duty by raising three beautiful children, Emma has lost all sense of purpose. Friendless, with the exception of her housekeeper Ida, Emma wanders through her villa and the streets of Italy with what seems like expertise and command but we soon see that this veneer disintegrates at the slightest disruption. By the end of the film, we have a woman broken, then reborn. A story of personal awakening, I Am Love has some of the most witty, heartbreaking and visually luscious scenes we've seen at the cinema all year.

mixed fish with crunchy vegetables

The aforementioned prawn, glistening and translucent, signals the beginning of what will be an insatiable love. Confidences are shared over a box of Laduree macaroons and betrayal descends upon the Recchi house the moment a glance is shared over a delicate bowl of ukha, a clear Russian fish soup.

this ukha will break your heart.

And while we love, love, LOVE Tilda Swinton in all her magnificence, a part of our hearts belongs to Edoardo Gabbriellini, who plays Antonio. The chef who brings a hand baked cake as a peace offering, the chef who distills his own elderberry extract from the flowers on his land, the chef who undresses a woman by first tenderly removing her shoes.

Antonio, Antonio. Yes. We swoon over Antonio. And we're not the only ones. Run, don't walk, to the theater. Do not wait for DVD on this one. Culinary visions like these are a dish best served on a big screen.

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