This article contains spoilers for ‘We Live in Time’.
On the big screen, the recipe for love almost always includes a good meal. Annie Hall’s (1977) runaway lobsters evoke the bubbly joy of the early days of a love affair. The tennis racket-strained spaghetti in The Apartment (1960) summons up the chaotic, cosy domesticity of a couple who is simply meant to be. The roadside, fried-chicken picnic in To Catch a Thief (1955) peels back the glamor of its leads (Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, of course), giving an unexpected glimpse of intimacy. The poisonous-mushroom omelette in Phantom Thread (2017) becomes a symbol of obsession and control, evoking the darker side of love.
Cinema is filled with such romantic foodie moments, moments that remind us that the acts of preparing and enjoying food have a singular way of bringing a love story to life on screen. After all, there is nothing more sensuous – or indeed sensual – than cooking for, or eating with, another person. Lust, love, affection, intimacy, yearning… it can all be captured in a single taste.
