The Glitter Child

I hope you weren't assuming that I was going to make all these movies JUST Romances.

That's a bit silly!!

After all, to my mind, love should be celebrated every day. The same goes for good movies.

So I bring you Day 2 of...

Today's feature is...

This is a movie that nobody I know has seen, and it's really a tragedy!! The story is essentially centered on 4 people who are trying to find their "Moby Dick" in life.

Fifi Coco

There's Fiona Coco, nicknamed Fifi, who is a young woman with an incredible culinary gift. Everything she makes tastes exquisite and she could be truly great if only she could stop being afraid of her own talent and eventually becoming stagnant. Instead of working in a fabulous five-star restaurant, she works at a short order dive called Ishmael's. She has her friends and her good days, but all in all it's a thankless job that requires her to use just enough brains to remain conscious.

Catherine

Catherine works as the delivery girl for Ishmael's, and is a friendly acquaintance of Fifi. She works the night shift, bringing a pack of cigarettes for Fifi now and again, and they chat sometimes, but beyond that she is detached from the world. She can muse on about how there's a picture of her all over the world, in the background of someone else's photo, but when it comes to actually taking on the dare from Fifi to kiss her and have a human connection, she just brushes it off as "would that make life better for you?"

Paulo

Paulo is the owner and head chef and basically server and barman of the Mediterranean restaurant adjacent to Fifi's Ishmael's. He cares for Fifi like an uncle for his niece, with sweet comments about how talented she is, but also firm complaints that she is absolutely insane. Paulo also has his own quirks, though, and begins his entrance to the movie by mentioning to Fifi that the greatest meal would be to eat Paulo himself. "I feel ripe," he laughs,"like a fucking melon!". Paulo doesn't have sympathy for dine-and-dashers, and for every one of the "little bastards" he catches, he cuts off a finger. In turn that finger is put into his underground-famous Osso Bucco, which many foodies come especially to request. Paulo is searching for the one man who has become notorious for never paying a bill for his meal, the "Culinary Terrorist".

Harry

Harry is one of those foodies who has heard about "The Dish" and asks for it. He is a man who hates to stay in one place, because if you do, he says, you get "caught". There's something odd about him to Paulo, even though he's the only customer in the abandoned restaurant, and Paulo suspects he is the Culinary Terrorist. Is Harry out to pull one over on the one man who might be able to catch him, or does he just really love good food?

Paulo and The Butcher aim to find out!!

The movie is filled with allegories to Moby Dick, but also full of life, vigor, and hints of spice. Everyone has a story to tell, and frequently they relate sex to food. Indeed, the connection is a strong one: from a New York street vendor saying that women love to eat hot dogs for certain vengeful reasons, to a Pizzeria owner establishing with a hunk of dough exactly how he pleases the ladies, to a prostitute falling in love with a chef because "I knew whatever we ate that night would taste of her".

Don't look so frightened, Fifi! The Prossie ain't a cannibal!

It all interconnects on this tiny street corner in a European town where locals are just "extras in my movie" and anyone can be the one person to save each of them, if only they knew how to reach out and ask.

"That's what it is, Felix. You just want to fuck me."

Did I mention also that there is an EXQUISITE monologue delivered by the one and only Vanessa Redgrave and that I may have watched it 100 times?

I love you, Ma'am.

Also several sweet and delightful song/dance numbers by the beautiful Emma de Caunes, who expertly moves through the movie with a kind of glee and grace that belongs neither to a woman nor a child, but is completely all her own. Actresses, pay attention--this is how you make sure you're a strong female character!

I may have neglected to mention that there is a LITTLE bit of romance in the movie, beyond the Fifi and Catherine characters, in the story of a man who wanders in to Ishmael's from his lavish party in some fancy hotel. I won't spoil it for you, but it is one of my favorite scenes of all time due to its magical simplicity and realistic finality.

Overall, it's a rare gem of a film that needs to be seen by more people!! Not only are all the characters likable in their own special flawed way, it is also the perfect film to watch if you're single. Don't have a date? Good food certainly does suffice!!

And now the outfits...