Culinary imagery, much like sexual and violent imagery, is a key cinematic device used to elicit a sensory response from an audience. In many films, culinary imagery is central enough to constitute a new subgenre, defined by films in which food production, preparation, service, and consumption play a major part in the development of character, structure, or theme.
This book defines the food film genre and analyzes the relationship between cinematic food imagery and various cultural constructs, including politics, family, identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and religion. Chapters examine these themes in several well-known food films, such as
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Chocolat, Babette's Feast
, and
Eat Drink Man Woman
, and lesser-known productions, including
Felicia's Journey, Kitchen Stories, Magic Kitchen
Chinese Feast
. The work includes a filmography of movies within the food genre.
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