"Umami" is a new movie, a co-production between France and Japan, from 2022 and I had the pleasure of seeing this last night on the big screen in some kind of premiere event that had writer and director Slony Sow present and also Mr. Gérard Depardieu was there to say a few words before the film began. Really nice! I am not sure if this is a film that I otherwise would have checked out, but maybe yes because I just like Depardieu a lot and with him present, there was no hesitation for me whether I should go or not. I mean an extended Q&A would have been even more awesome, but I take what I can get when it comes to him. It was still nice to see a French film (with subtitles) again, especially as it happened at the movie theater that is perhaps the defining spot in Berlin when it comes to French movies. Anyway, this film is of course not just Depardieu, even if he is the big lead in here and the poster is perhaps a bit misleading as it looks as if there's two equal leads. Part of the cast are a handful of Asian actors. I will spare you the names as you can check out the list for yourself and I personally might have a difficult time to really say more about them, in which films they already appeared etc. As I am simply not too familiar with those. Japanese film buffs will know better. The other French cast members seemed more familiar to me. This includes most of all Pierre Richard obviously as he is a bit of a comedy icon and pretty much an icon in general in France when it comes to acting. Everybody knows him there. Maybe he is not as lauded as Depardieu awards-wise and certainly not as famous as Depardieu when it comes to popularity in other countries, but it was a delight to see these two share the screen on a few occasions, especially in the first half. Richard did not have as much screen time as you could think judging from how high up he is mentioned in the cast list and he is just a smaller supporting character who also does not really have a story, but when he and Depardieu are sharing the screen, it is just movie magic. The first meeting inside the hospital is already a great example.
Sandrine Bonnaire also feels familiar, even if I cannot really go into detail about her here, but she plays Depardieu's character's wife or ex-wife as she has a new man already, but the ending leaves it open if she will maybe return to him. The new man is also not exactly depicted in a too positive light, even if we do not know a lot about him, but he does not understand her poetry and at the same time Depardieu's character remembers a certain name of a male illusion very well, a name created by Bonnaire's character a long time ago. Now I am deep into the story already. Before I go on there, let me say that Sow and Depardieu have collaborated in the past already, so no surprise that they have a new film out. Maybe more collaborations will follow. Sow started as an actor, but not for long until he began writing and directing films, first of all short films, and good to see he still keeps going. I think this was a nice watch today, here and there even a great moment. One early moment I liked from the film felt quite aesthetic to me, namely when we have a smaller character prepare a meal in the kitchen and there was cheese falling in small pieces and at the same time we saw the snow falling outside. It was good. There are serious moments in this movie like obviously the main character's almost fatal heart attack early on, but at the core of it all, it is really a comedy and the film lives through some of its absurd situations. As Depardieu's character is spending a big chunk of the film in Japan, there's also culture and language barriers in here that felt fairly entertaining. But it is also the fact that Sow like many other French comedy filmmakers does not feel the constant need to be politically correct and not offend anybody, which is really the curse of German films right now, especially German comedy films. I am 100% certain that there would have been far less subtlety if this had been a German release and of course there would have been an emotional reunion between Depardieu's character and his wife. It would have been pretty horrible.
Here, luckily, they do almost everything right in terms of the comedy. One great example for that would be the scenes in which they mock Depardieu's weight a little bit, like when we have the surgeon early on make fun of the unconscious protagonist and that he must have eaten a lot before. Did this comment came from Sow himself? I see he acted for the first time in five years again in this film, but it was a character that was in it for a few seconds and blink and he is gone. Still, regardless of if it was him, the comment there on the weight was among the funniest moments, maybe even my favorite comedic moment from the entire 105-minute film. Another inclusion that stayed in the mind was when we see Depardieu's character unconscious again in the second half because he drank too much and he is lying there on the bed and we basically see nothing from him except his belly. It is so awesome that Depardieu takes these moments with great humor and this makes them even funnier that he does not take himself seriously at all. Honestly, as long as he makes films like this one, I could not care less about his political views etc. The part when his character is really drunk here was also (despite the serious undertone) more of a funny inclusion, like look at how the two Asians react when he enters the elevator there in the clothes he wore at night. Comedy gold. What follows afterwards is not too shabby either when he and his new buddy (the one from the poster) pretty much climb a mountain together. Okay, they are on bikes, but still. There was also decent comedy with what Depardieu's character was wearing or how he said there is no way he will get on this bike, but moments later we see him in the saddle. This Asian fella I just mentioned is the one who knew Depardieu's character already decades ago when they took part in a cooking competition in France. Seeing him again was also the key reason why the protagonist went to Asia. But did he really or was it all just in his mind? We could think so with the revelation coming when we see that he was just hypnotized by Richard's character perhaps and none of all this was real. I refuse to believe it though.
Anyway, in the process they are also solving some side issues that are not directly linked to the central character. For example, there is the son's struggles in getting accepted and really making a name for himself away from his legendary father. The solution there lies in the son creating his own recipes and focusing on what he is best at instead of copying his dad. Then there is another relative (also a son?) who is close to the main character from the very start and not fond of the new man in Bonnaire's character's life and this one eventually ends up following the main character to Japan (after a funny moment in which Richard's character tells him where Depardieu's character was - so random) and it looks like he even finds love there and the two men, the two cooks, are almost related when the film ends. Now that was quite some progress wasn't it, if we compare it to how things went at the beginning of their encounter after all these years when one clearly did not want to see the other because he reminded him of a lost love and the other had to accept it and just took it like a man without being too happy. The women kinda solve it then because the woman working hard at the restaurant heads after Depardieu's character and talks to him and so the two stubborn old men would meet again the next day. A lot ensued from that. A lot of positive things for the characters, but also for us in the audience. Just look at how Depardieu's character reacts when he hears that there's pigs up there and he is on his bike immediately again. That was funny. Okay, the scene up there with the rock music and pigs was not exactly a great moment, but Black Sabbath are still awesome. The scene in the mud (at what almost felt more like a spa than a restaurant then) or what it was got better when another character joins the two main characters in the water. The scenes afterwards with how the right colors and attention to detail can make a delicious meal even more special and memorable were also very nice. Almost pieces of art there. It was maybe not truly emotional, but still interesting to watch.
I already mentioned some of the more serious inclusions like the heart attack or the alcoholism background, but there was one moment that I considered scary and I am not sure if the director was playing with us there or if it was just my false perception. There was this struggling Asian woman in here and in one scene she is in the bathtub and the water looks kinda red, so I was initially thinking she cut herself, but moments later we understand she was just taking a bath and nothing else. She was humiliated as we find out in the end, but she probably was not suicidal. In the end, we also find out what made her like this and it had to do with a previous love from her life and what he did to her after the relationship ended. Pretty heavy. Even here, people would care a lot, but Japan with its very different society is just another category. Reputation stands above everything else there still. Speaking of some of the female characters, I would say that really all the (Asian) women in this film pretty much were really stunning, especially as the character up there in the mountains was male, which I was not too sure about first. Pretty good film we have here, reminded me a bit of the German "Kirschblüten - Hanami" here and there. Depardieu proves he still has amazing screen presence and the references to his own movie past (Obélix and Les Misérables) were excellent too. In other words, this is a film that is pretty good and deserves to be seen. Thumbs-up, also for the excellent music.
Sandrine Bonnaire also feels familiar, even if I cannot really go into detail about her here, but she plays Depardieu's character's wife or ex-wife as she has a new man already, but the ending leaves it open if she will maybe return to him. The new man is also not exactly depicted in a too positive light, even if we do not know a lot about him, but he does not understand her poetry and at the same time Depardieu's character remembers a certain name of a male illusion very well, a name created by Bonnaire's character a long time ago. Now I am deep into the story already. Before I go on there, let me say that Sow and Depardieu have collaborated in the past already, so no surprise that they have a new film out. Maybe more collaborations will follow. Sow started as an actor, but not for long until he began writing and directing films, first of all short films, and good to see he still keeps going. I think this was a nice watch today, here and there even a great moment. One early moment I liked from the film felt quite aesthetic to me, namely when we have a smaller character prepare a meal in the kitchen and there was cheese falling in small pieces and at the same time we saw the snow falling outside. It was good. There are serious moments in this movie like obviously the main character's almost fatal heart attack early on, but at the core of it all, it is really a comedy and the film lives through some of its absurd situations. As Depardieu's character is spending a big chunk of the film in Japan, there's also culture and language barriers in here that felt fairly entertaining. But it is also the fact that Sow like many other French comedy filmmakers does not feel the constant need to be politically correct and not offend anybody, which is really the curse of German films right now, especially German comedy films. I am 100% certain that there would have been far less subtlety if this had been a German release and of course there would have been an emotional reunion between Depardieu's character and his wife. It would have been pretty horrible.
Here, luckily, they do almost everything right in terms of the comedy. One great example for that would be the scenes in which they mock Depardieu's weight a little bit, like when we have the surgeon early on make fun of the unconscious protagonist and that he must have eaten a lot before. Did this comment came from Sow himself? I see he acted for the first time in five years again in this film, but it was a character that was in it for a few seconds and blink and he is gone. Still, regardless of if it was him, the comment there on the weight was among the funniest moments, maybe even my favorite comedic moment from the entire 105-minute film. Another inclusion that stayed in the mind was when we see Depardieu's character unconscious again in the second half because he drank too much and he is lying there on the bed and we basically see nothing from him except his belly. It is so awesome that Depardieu takes these moments with great humor and this makes them even funnier that he does not take himself seriously at all. Honestly, as long as he makes films like this one, I could not care less about his political views etc. The part when his character is really drunk here was also (despite the serious undertone) more of a funny inclusion, like look at how the two Asians react when he enters the elevator there in the clothes he wore at night. Comedy gold. What follows afterwards is not too shabby either when he and his new buddy (the one from the poster) pretty much climb a mountain together. Okay, they are on bikes, but still. There was also decent comedy with what Depardieu's character was wearing or how he said there is no way he will get on this bike, but moments later we see him in the saddle. This Asian fella I just mentioned is the one who knew Depardieu's character already decades ago when they took part in a cooking competition in France. Seeing him again was also the key reason why the protagonist went to Asia. But did he really or was it all just in his mind? We could think so with the revelation coming when we see that he was just hypnotized by Richard's character perhaps and none of all this was real. I refuse to believe it though.
Anyway, in the process they are also solving some side issues that are not directly linked to the central character. For example, there is the son's struggles in getting accepted and really making a name for himself away from his legendary father. The solution there lies in the son creating his own recipes and focusing on what he is best at instead of copying his dad. Then there is another relative (also a son?) who is close to the main character from the very start and not fond of the new man in Bonnaire's character's life and this one eventually ends up following the main character to Japan (after a funny moment in which Richard's character tells him where Depardieu's character was - so random) and it looks like he even finds love there and the two men, the two cooks, are almost related when the film ends. Now that was quite some progress wasn't it, if we compare it to how things went at the beginning of their encounter after all these years when one clearly did not want to see the other because he reminded him of a lost love and the other had to accept it and just took it like a man without being too happy. The women kinda solve it then because the woman working hard at the restaurant heads after Depardieu's character and talks to him and so the two stubborn old men would meet again the next day. A lot ensued from that. A lot of positive things for the characters, but also for us in the audience. Just look at how Depardieu's character reacts when he hears that there's pigs up there and he is on his bike immediately again. That was funny. Okay, the scene up there with the rock music and pigs was not exactly a great moment, but Black Sabbath are still awesome. The scene in the mud (at what almost felt more like a spa than a restaurant then) or what it was got better when another character joins the two main characters in the water. The scenes afterwards with how the right colors and attention to detail can make a delicious meal even more special and memorable were also very nice. Almost pieces of art there. It was maybe not truly emotional, but still interesting to watch.
I already mentioned some of the more serious inclusions like the heart attack or the alcoholism background, but there was one moment that I considered scary and I am not sure if the director was playing with us there or if it was just my false perception. There was this struggling Asian woman in here and in one scene she is in the bathtub and the water looks kinda red, so I was initially thinking she cut herself, but moments later we understand she was just taking a bath and nothing else. She was humiliated as we find out in the end, but she probably was not suicidal. In the end, we also find out what made her like this and it had to do with a previous love from her life and what he did to her after the relationship ended. Pretty heavy. Even here, people would care a lot, but Japan with its very different society is just another category. Reputation stands above everything else there still. Speaking of some of the female characters, I would say that really all the (Asian) women in this film pretty much were really stunning, especially as the character up there in the mountains was male, which I was not too sure about first. Pretty good film we have here, reminded me a bit of the German "Kirschblüten - Hanami" here and there. Depardieu proves he still has amazing screen presence and the references to his own movie past (Obélix and Les Misérables) were excellent too. In other words, this is a film that is pretty good and deserves to be seen. Thumbs-up, also for the excellent music.
