This French effort has me stumped. I am stumped because a day after seeing it I am still trying to work out what it was trying to be. It's not a comedy (although there are some laughs), nor even a romantic comedy, it might be labeled a drama, it's not a musical, and most certainly is not a mystery or a thriller. So what is it?
The central character is Castella (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a trucking company businessman in the midst of a lucrative oil deal with the Iranians. He has two bodyguards, such is the potential threat to him over this oil deal. His wife, Angelique (Christiane Milet), is a self-obsessed interior decorator with little ability to accommodate or tolerate the taste of others. Even Castella's bodyguard and driver are pretty bored with their lot.
Everything changes when Castella hires a tutor to improve his English in the belief this will facilitate the oil deal. However, he quickly realises how much more charming and interesting she is than his dog-loving wife.
This attraction borders on obsession after his wife drags Castella to the theatre. A boring evening becomes a lot more interesting when he realises the lead actress, who has captivated his attention, is none other than his new English tutor, Clara (Anne Alvaro).
Meanwhile, Castella's wife continues on her merry way decorating her sister-in-law's apartment, unaware of her husband’s newfound interest in the theatre. His driver, whose girlfriend has gone to America for a few months and hasn’t contacted him, meets a young barmaid only to lose her to the bodyguard. When he learns of his girlfriend's infidelity, he questions his own sexual morality and is found lacking.
Castella's obsession with his English teacher finally breaks him and he declares his interest, only to be rebuffed. Opting to drop the English lessons to spare them both the tension and embarrassment, the tutor then begins to think she may be more attracted to him than she first thought. But is it too late? He is married after all.
The Taste of Others is a dialogue-driven character study that makes for interesting viewing, mostly, but you might find yourself waiting for a big 'event' that never seems to come. There is no climax as such, and it's really a film that takes you on a gentle ride with the characters. It lets you see their idiosyncrasies and foibles, but all from a safe distance. There are no dislikable characters, and no ludicrous situations to navigate through, but maybe one or two might have given the film the kick in the derriere it needed to really get going.
The cast is very good, and there is no reason to dislike any of them, or the film as a whole, but it's a tough film to get into all the same. This is typical of many French films in that they offer a slice of life, but whether that appeals to a larger international audience is debatable.
This is quite possibly a perfect looking film, and there is nothing of note to bring to anyone's attention. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16:9 enhanced. The image is as sharp as you could want it to be and colouring and skin tones are as natural and solid as you will see. There is no over-saturation, but colours are all rich and bold.
Shadow detail is very good, and there are no compression problems. There are no artefacts in the way of marks and dirt. Grain is non-existent, and there are no issues with edge enhancement or noise.
Subtitles are placed entirely against a black background (“Yeah, in them black bars!”) and always remain easy to read. Even the layer change is discretely placed between scenes at 59:50.
There is no English language option I'm afraid moi petites enfants, so keep your French dictionary handy (and the remote) or like me, think, "Sod it" and read the film. This film is a challenge as many such French releases are, as the cast seem to race through their lines. There are two French-language options, being Dolby 5.1 and Dolby stereo. The 5.1 audio is a beauty and matches the video presentation for quality.
Dialogue is quite loud, clear and placed centrally. The rest of the audio track, however, is quite spaced and good use has been made of the available sound stage. There are numerous instances of directional effects from the fronts and the rear channels. The rear channels are used for ambience and the accompanying music.
There is not a lot on offer for the subwoofer however, and low-level sounds are few and far between but this is a dialogue-driven film; short on action, long on drama. There would appear to be no problems with audio synch, but if like me you have your eyes glued much of the time to that 'black bar' on the bottom, then it really is academic anyway.
