Slow Food, Slow Film

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Dennis Rothermel is Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Chico. His essay on The Piano, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Pianist, and Hero appeared in 2007 in the Quarterly Review of Film and Video. His essay on Mystic River appeared in an anthology on Clint Eastwood, also in 2007.

Notes

1. Antonio Negri, Marx Beyond Marx: Lessons on the Grundrisse. (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1984), 7, 122.

2. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Labor of Dionysus: A Critique of the State-Form (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994), 60.

3. See: Marion Nestle, What to Eat (New York: North Point Press, 2006); Marion Nestle, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002); Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, and Fair, trans. by Clara Furlan and Jonathan Hunt (New York: Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2005); Carlo Petrini, Slow Food: The Case for Taste, translated by William McCuaig (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001); Carlo Petrini and Gigi Padovani, Slow Food Revolution: A New Culture for Eating and Living, translated by Francesca Santovetti (New York: Rizzoli, 2005); Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (New York: the Penguin Press, 2008); and Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution (New York: Clarkson Potter, 2007).

4. See Calvin Trillin, Travels with Alice (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1989); Calvin Trillin, Third Helpings (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1983); Calvin Trillin, American Fried: Adventures of a Happy Eater (New York: Vintage: 1979); Calvin Trillin, Alice, Let's Eat: Further Adventures of a Happy Eater (New York: Vintage, 1979); Sidney Mintz, Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions into Eating, Culture, and the Past (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996); Wendell Berry, What Are People For? (North Point Press, 1990); M. F. K. Fisher, The Art of Eating (New York: MacMillan, 1990); M. F. K. Fisher, Last House (New York: Pantheon Books, 1995).

5. Nestle, What to Eat, 493–495, 498, 503, 518, 519; Petrini, 80, 83, 102; Pollan, 139–141, 147–149, 157–159, 161–162, 183–184; Waters, 6–7.

6. Petrini, 22, 79; Pollan, 192, 194; Waters, 6–7.

7. Petrini, 56, 69, 77, 81–82, 87, 101, 104, 246; Waters, 6–7.

8. Nestle, What to Eat, 523; Nestle, Food Politics, 360–362; Petrini, 2, 27, 135, 136; Pollan, 150–152; Waters, 6–7.

9. Petrini, 17.

10. Nestle, What to Eat, 511.

11. See Jeffrey M. Pilcher, “Taco Bell, Maseca, and Slow Food: A Postmodern Apocalypse for Mexico's Peasant Cuisine?” in Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik, Food and Culture: A Reader (New York: Routledge, 2008; 2nd ed.), 400–409; Rachel Laudan, “A Plea for Culinary Modernism: Why We Should Love New, Fast, Processed Food,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 1:1 (February 2001), 36–44; Adrian Peace, “Barossa Slow: The Representation and Rhetoric of Slow Food's Regional Cooking,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 6:1 (February 2006), 51–59.

12. See Fabio Parasecoli, “Postrevolutionary Chowhounds: Food, Globalization, and the Italian Left,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 3:3 (August 2003), 29–39; Allison Leitch, “Slow Food and the Politics of Pork Fat: Italian Food and European Identity,” in Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik, eds., Food and Culture: A Reader (New York: Routledge, 2008; 2nd ed.), 381–399; Heather Paxson, “Slow Food in a Fat Society: Satisfying Ethical Appetites,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 5:1 (February 2005), 14–18.

13. See Alice Julier, “The Political Economy of Obesity: The Fat Pay All,” in Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik, eds., Food and Culture: A Reader (New York: Routledge, 2008; 2nd ed.), 482–499; Cathy Banwell, Jane Dixon, Sarah Hinde, and Heather McIntyre, “Fast and Slow Food in the Fast Lane: Automobility and the Australian Diet,” in Richard Wilk, ed., Fast Food/Slow Food: The Cultural Economy of the Global Food System (New York: AltaMira, 2006), 219–240; “Designed for Disease: the Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes,” California Center for Public Health Advocacy, <www.publichealthadvocacy.org>; Roots of Change, <http://www.rocfund.org>; and Slow Food Nation, <http://www.slowfoodnation.org>.

14. André Bazin, “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema,” and “The Virtues and Limitations of Montage,” in: André Bazin, What is Cinema? ed. and trans. by Hugh Gray (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967; 2 vols.), vol. 1, 23–52.

15. See David Bordwell, Janet Staiger and Kristin Thompson, The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1985).

16. John Ford, director, How Green Was My Valley (USA, 1941), script by Philip Dunne from the novel by Richard Llewellyn, cinematography by Arthur C. Miller, with Walter Pidgeon (Mr. Gruffydd), Maureen O’Hara (Angharad).

17. As related by Peter Bogdanovich in his documentary film Directed by John Ford (extended version, 2007, produced by Turner Classic Movies). See John Ford, Interviews, edited by Gerald Peary (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001), 8–9, 39, 40–41, 60, 65, 67, 85, 117, 123; and Jay Leyda, ed., Voices of Film Experience: 1894 to the Present (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977), 144.

18. See Joseph McBride, Searching for John Ford: A Life (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2001), 429–437.

19. Orson Welles, director, The Magnificent Ambersons (USA, 1942), script by Welles from the novel by Booth Tarkington, cinematography by Stanley Cortez, with Joseph Cotton (Eugene Morgan), Dolores Costello (Isabel Minifer), Agnes Morehead (Fanny Minafer).

20. Here is a brief and far from comprehensive list: Chantal Akerman, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodóvar, Robert Altman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jane Campion, Joel Coen, Brian De Palma, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Atom Egoyan, John Ford, Milos Forman, Stephen Frears, Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Haneke, Werner Herzog, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, Ang Lee, Mike Leigh, Joseph Losey, Sidney Lumet, David Lynch, Sandra Nettelbeck, Max Ophüls, Otto Preminger, Jean Renoir, Eric Rohmer, John Sayles, Martin Scorsese, Douglas Sirk, George Stevens, Quentin Tarantino, Julie Taymor, Lars von Trier, Orson Welles, Joe Wright, William Wyler, Zhang Yimou.

21. Ang Lee, director, Eat Drink Man Woman (Taiwan, 1994), script by Lee, James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang, with Sihung Lung (Chu, the chef), Yu-Wen Wang (Jia-Ning, Chu's eldest daughter, a chemistry teacher), Chien-lien Wu (Jia-Chien, Chu's second eldest daughter, an airline executive), Kuei-Mei Yang (Jia-Jen, Chu's youngest daughter, a schoolgirl), Sylvia Chang (Jin-Rong, Chu's secret fiancée), Jui Wang (Old Wen, Chu's chef colleague), Winston Chao (Li Kai, Jia-Chien's business colleague).

22. Maria Ripoll, director, Tortilla Soup (USA, 2001), script by Ramón Menéndez, Tom Musca and Vera Blasi, based on the screen play by Ang Lee, James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang, with Hector Elizondo (Martin Naranjo, the chef), Elizabeth Peña (Leticia Naranjo, Martin's eldest daughter, a chemistry teacher), Jacqueline Obradors (Carmen Naranjo, Martin's second eldest daughter, a corporate management professional), Tamara Mello (Maribel Naranjo, Martin's youngest daughter, a schoolgirl), Constance Marie (Yolanda, Martin's eventual financée), Julio Oscar Mechoso (Gomez, Martin's chef colleague), Raquel Welch (Hortensia, Yolanda's mother), Joel Joan (Antonio Urgell, Carmen's business colleague), Paul Rodriguez (Orlando Castillo, Leticia's eventual husband).

23. The cultural methodological approaches of national cinema or genre cinema studies will often privilege the interpretation that fits into the conceptual arrays of these approaches, while de-emphasizing or obscuring complexities of character development. Cp. Anne L. Bower, “Watching Food” in Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film (New York: Routledge, 2004), 7–9.

24. Scholarly reception of films with little significant content other than the dominant ethnic themes tends to recapitulate the studio calculations evident in the discrete ethnic cues. Cp. Robin Balthrope, “Food as Representative of Ethnicity and Culture in George Tillman Jr.'s Soul Food, Maria Ripoll's Tortilla Soup, and Tim Reid's Once upon a Time When We Were Colored,” in Anne L. Bower, ed., Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film (New York: Routledge, 2004), 101–113.

25. Sandra Nettelbeck, director, Bella Martha (Germany, 2001; US title: Mostly Martha), script by Nettelbeck, with Martina Gedeck (Martha Klein, the chef), Maxime Foerste (Lina Klein, Martha's niece), Sergio Castelitto (Mario, the sous-chef), August Zirner (Martha's therapist), Sibylle Canonica (Frida, the restaurant owner), Ulrich Thomsen (Sam Thalberg, Martha's downstairs neighbor), Diego Ribon (Giuseppe Lorenzo, Lina's father).

26. Scott Hicks, director, No Reservations (USA, 2007), script by Carol Fuchs, based upon the screenplay by Sandra Nettelbeck, with Catherine Zeta-Jones (Kate, the chef), Abigail Breslin (Zoe, Kate's neice), Aaron Eckhart (Nick, the sous-chef), Bob Balaban (Kate's therapist), Patricia Clarkson (Paula, the restaurant owner).

27. The structuralist methodological approaches of national cinema or genre cinema studies will often privilege the interpretation that fits into the conceptual arrays of these approaches, while de-emphasizing or obscuring complexities of character development. Cp. Cecilia Novero, “Novelle Cuisine Meets the German Cinema: Bella Martha's Recipe for Contemporary Film” Food and Foodways 12:1 (January 2004), 27–52; and Steve Zimmerman and Ken Weiss, Food in the Movies (Jefferson: McFarland & Co., 2005), 254–256; James R. Keller, “Mostly Martha: Appe/type and Stereo/tite,” in Food, Film and Culture: A Genre Study (Jefferson: McFarland & Co., 2006), 68–78.

28. The author of this essay made a broth with these ingredients, which was delicately pungent and sensuously aromatic.

29. Hubert Dreyfus, Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's Being and Time, Division I (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1997), 61–87, 201–207. See also: Joseph Rouse, “Coping and Its Contrasts,” in Heidegger, Coping, and Cognitive Science: Essays in Honor of Hubert L. Dreyfus, Volume 2, ed. by Mark A. Wrathall and Jeff Malpas (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2000), 7–28.

30. See Ted Cohen, “High and Low Thinking about High and Low Art,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 51.2 (Spring, 1993), 151–156; and “High and Low Art, and High and Low Audiences,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 57.2 (Spring, 1999), 137–143.

31. Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, “Manifesto—Dogme 95 [originally published in Copenhagen, 1995],” in Trier on von Trier, ed. by Stig Björkman, trans. by Neil Smith (London: Faber and Faber, 2003), 157–159.

32. See Werner Herzog, Herzog on Herzog, edited by Paul Cronin (London: Faber and Faber, 2002), 13–16; and Les Blank, director, Werner Herzog Eats his Shoe (USA, 1908), with Werner Herzog and Alice Waters.

33. See Roberto Esposito, Bios: Biopolitics and Philosophy, translated by Timothy Campbell (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008), 146–194.