… as much as these stills made me think I would. Delicious (2021) is another 18th-century-set film I’ve been putting off because despite it being French (+1) and 18th century (+1), it’s got these costumes:
But, since I have this whole 18th-Century Quest to watch any and all 18h-century-set movies, it’s been languishing in my Prime to-watch list for a few years. Since there’s a current dearth of content and I’m trying to do my homework, I watched it. GOD MOM.
In the end, it’s a sweet movie about a man who is a chef to a nobleman who is fired from that job, returns to his podunk small town, and is inspired to start cooking again by his proto-revolutionary son and, most importantly, the mysterious lady who arrives and insists on being his apprentice. I am glad they cast an actual mature lady as this character (Louise), because it avoided the awful “beautiful young ingenue bats her eyes at scruffy older man” trap. Do expect to be hungry throughout, because as all good food movies do, this one has lots of food porn and discussions of food and languishing shots of food.
The costumes were designed by Madeline Fontaine (Marie Antoinette, Versailles, A Woman’s Life, A Very Long Engagement), and she must have just had zero budget because, yikes. At least the aristocrats were hardly ever on screen.
Chef Pierre Manceron is generally in breeches and waistcoats; Louise does a lot of sleeveless boned bodices and would be better served in an actual jacket or a corset-with-tied-on-sleeves:
Luckily most of the regular people who visit their proto-restaurant look good, so clearly Fontaine knows what she’s doing and we’re just suffering from leading-character-syndrome.
At one point, Louise dresses up, and she adds a nice embroidered fichu to an actual gown:
Thankfully there’s only really one aristocrat who spends much time on screen; sadly he starts off with this hair:
The rest of these are extras in one scene, and yes yes I know we’re making the point of just how extravagant and over-the-top the aristos are:
Overall, I do recommend the film if you like sweet and cooking, just don’t go into it thinking you’re going to get any quality costume content.
Have you seen Delicious? What’s your take?
I thought the film was delightful. Agreed that she was actually mature and their relationship was believable.The good costumes made up for the bad for me, and I thought the embroidery looked spot-on. I’m thinking the aristocrats’ silly hair was meant to underscore their mannered, affected, clueless, silliness.
All I saw was the food. The only costume shot I remember was all the pastel dresses of the customers sitting and eating.
The male actor’s costume reminds me very much of Brian Blessed’s and Richard Briers’ costumes in Much Ado About Nothing. The hair on the aristos is so horrible that it makes me smile. I haven’t seen this one, but you might have just convinced me to take a chance on it! :)
I saw the movie. The whole story of a great restaurant in the nowhere in France is just so stupid such as many costumes (of we take in account that it should be 1789) … not to mention the horrible beard!
It didn’t seem like the best business model…
We have to take in account that it was mentioned in the movie that we see the first restaurant although we find restaurant recommandations in sources from the period. To go into a “Wirtshaus”/”Gasthaus” for no clear reason (marriage etc.) became popular in my region in the 1620s!
The Aqua Net guy reminds me of Cameron Diaz in There’s Something About Mary (you know what I mean). :)
😂 😂 😂
Maybe that link with was last seen almost 40 years ago on Thomas Hulce’s head?
French nominee for the oscars is all about food too. ( the Taste of things)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19760052/
I’m not going to lie, the thought of aristos quite casually sleeping in their wigs THEN WEARING THEM IN PUBLIC is entirely in keeping with a certain sort of “Pfft, social etiquette is for people who can’t get daddy to buy their way out of trouble” mindset common to the annoyingly rich and provocative.
Sadly it’s an attitude the French Revolution was able to curtail, but not stamp out.