Gwendoline Christie, Asa Butterfield and Frenchwoman Ariane Labed sparkle as stars of indie music in front of the camera of the new Cronenberg. Spotlight on the singular nugget Flux Gourmet, to discover without further delay on FILMO!
Gourmet feed, in a nutshell
A collective of musicians (Asa Butterfield, Ariane Labed, Fatma Mohamed) settles in a center dedicated to gastronomy and culinary performances. The dysfunctional dynamic of the group, plagued by internal rivalries, leads to a gradual accumulation of unhealthy tensions that are likely to undermine the musical project.
At the same time, a journalist (Makis Papadimitriou) is hired to produce a file on the group and document the daily life of its members, from rehearsals to meal breaks. But while the dissensions of the artists continue to grow, the journalist finds himself the victim of violent digestive disorders, increasingly disabling…
A deliciously dissonant score…
If the strangeness of Flux Gourmet assails you as soon as you read its synopsis, it’s quite normal: the British director Peter Strickland makes it the main ingredient of all his films. After Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke Of Burgundy, both available on FILMO this month, he’s back with a bittersweet film that’s sure to tickle your taste buds!
Filmed in the intimacy of their common residence, in the manner of a reality show, the rival artists engage in constant verbal jousting so the acidity disconcerts a time, but ends up making all the salt of their collaboration, at the even beyond their rare performances. It is therefore precisely the dissonance of their interactions that becomes a melody that manages to charm.
However, the spectator is not left to himself in this hostile and strange environment, since the character of the journalist, played by Makis Papadimitriou, embodies the ultimate glow of benevolence in the residence. Impossible not to feel empathy for this literally torn character, whom the temperamental stomach comes to put in many awkward situations.
Copyright Bankside Films, IFC Productions I
Gwendoline Christie, as a highly stylized authority figure, will remind fans of the Wednesday series of the quasi-Gothic charm of the character she played there, and will delight viewers with her slightest appearance.
…orchestrated by the heir of Cronenberg and Östlund
The dough marked with Peter Stricklandwhose aesthetic is reminiscent of the great classics of Giallo (Suspiria, The Neon Demon) evokes above all, through its cult of strangeness, the great films of David Cronenberg and his son: fixed camera leaving time to the silence of his characters, close-ups on organic elements (culinary here), appearances here and there of gore or dreamlike touches…
Copyright Bankside Films, IFC Productions I
But far from being a pale copy of the genre, Gourmet Feed acquires a few original features that make it possible to link its plot to a form of concrete satire, despite the ambient strangeness. Something to recall the writing of Ruben Östlund (The Square, Without Filter). In addition to the artistic and social questions raised by the often belligerent interactions of the members of the residence, the predominance of a slightly scatophile humor should appeal to fans of the last Palme d’Or d’Or.Ostlund !
At the crossroads of genres and inspirations, Gourmet Feed turns out to be, despite its strangeness, a funny and satirical sweetness, served as a bonus by a starry cast. To consume without moderation !
Gourmet Feed, Berberian Sound And The Duke Of Burgundy of Peter Strickland are available this month on FILMO.