Menus-Plaisirs (which translates roughly to "small pleasures"), looks at the family restaurant owned by the renowned chef Michel Troigros, which he may or may not be preparing to pass down to his sons, Cesar and Leo. This is an incredibly thorough documentation of the scrupulous and even absurd lengths they go to in order to create the perfectionist, hand-crafted meals that costs hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. We examine every stage, from buying the ingredients, and even touring the facilities where the ingredients are grown, to the army of chefs meticulously laboring over every step. In true Wiseman-fashion, we also step back to witness every other step in the organization, from planning the menus to booking overnight reservations (diners are encouraged to stay overnight and take all their meals there, not just dinner) and yes, mopping the floors... all the way down to the patrons being served (an elaborate and complex process!) and enjoying their meals. It was funny to note all the Americans taking out their phones to snap pictures of their food, as opposed to the locals who were considerably cooler about the whole thing.
Boy, if I ever ate at this place, I'd be whispering to everyone: we're going to Popeye's on the way home. The insane amount of money, labor time and art that these people put into a single plate makes this an interesting counterpoint to 1976's Meat. Wiseman seems very taken with the family and the place, which makes this feel at times like a four-hour advertisement for their establishment, free of some of the slier observation that sometimes subtly slips into his earlier work. This gave me more "eat the rich" vibes, and I felt a little less under the spell than many critics seem to be. I probably prefer to see him documenting places he's a little less buddy-buddy with, but that does seem to be a particular attitude he adopts in his French docs, where he allows himself to be a little less objective and more openly a fawning admirer of his subjects' art (like in La Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué, La Danse and Crazy Horse). And like those, this is surely a portrait that will stay with anyone who's seen it for a very long time.
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2024 Zipporah Films DVD. |
The back of the case promises stereo and 5.1 mixes, like the French blu, but the actual discs just have the one 5.1 mix. But that's fine; our TVs can handle the fold down just fine without needing a second separate track. I'm more just jealous of the BD's mixes being lossless DTS-HD. But again, importing would be useless, since only this release has English subtitles, which by the way, are burnt in.
And there are no extras, of course, not even the trailer.
By the way, you may've noticed we jumped from covering Wiseman's 45th film to his 47th. No, DVDExotica didn't pass over one; Zipporah did. Sadly, they never put out a DVD or BD of A Couple, even though it's a film I prefer to Menus. There was a French Jour 2 Fête DVD in 2023, with another Wiseman interview and booklet. But since it's also a French-language film and the disc offers no English subtitles, that means there is still no English-friendly release available anywhere in the world. So hopefully this post doesn't come across as too salty. It's at least nice that Zipporah came back to give us Menus on DVD. I was beginning to worry we'd never get any discs from them ever again.
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