User Reviews

Smagen af sult is a decent film. I went in with little expectations and came out satisfied having seen a nicely presented picture. The only other Michelin-star-level cooking film that I remember watching is Burnt, which was a TOTAL train-wreck, so the bar was set pretty low.

The plot perhaps lacks some substance, but in other respects the film delivered. It was nicely framed, the performances were good all around, and the characters felt real. This especially goes for Frederik. A character that would commonly get downgraded to one-dimensional home-wrecker, in this film he gets just enough spotlight to show how he also was yet another victim of the ambition to get that coveted Michelin star.

Greetings again from the darkness. I'll try to avoid the temptation of including overtly cute food references ... especially those that might leave a bad taste (!). Writer-director Cristoffer Boe and his talented co-writer Tobias Lindholm (ANOTHER ROUND, THE HUNT) have collaborated on a film that centers on the world of haute cuisine, and how it can impact the mindset and relationships of those immersed in what may be the most bizarre art form on the planet. Despite the strain of the co-working spouses, rather than describing this as a romantic drama, I believe it might be better termed an obsessive drama.

Maggi (Katrine Gries-Rosenthal) and her husband Carsten (Nikoaj Coster-Waldau, "Game of Thrones") have been working together for 10 years to build a special restaurant in Copenhagen with the goal of earning a Michelin star. We see how committed to the cause they are, and while they appear to have a solid marriage and are decent parents, it's clear the kids and the family are not the priority that the quest for that star is.

While most of us are challenged with balancing family and profession, the obsessive tendencies displayed by both Maggi and Carsten are a bit unsettling. To what lengths would you go in order to achieve your dream? At what point does that obsession negatively impact other aspects of your life, and when it happens, will you even notice? What happens if your young daughter ... in this case Chloe (Flora Augusta) notices and is impacted?

Director Boe opens with the perfect quote from Kathy Acker: "If you ask me what I want, I'll tell you. I want everything." Of course, like everyone with this attitude before them, Maggi and Carsten discover their ego and obsessiveness carries a hefty price. Everything is not possible without sacrifice, which means everything is not possible. Boe also splits the film into cooking-related terms: Sweet, Sour, Fat, Salt, Heat, etc. It's a tad tricky, but we can see how the labels fit each section. Another lesson we learn is that blackmail is never a good strategy when wooing a lover, but here it serves to confront Maggi with quite the dilemma Food and obsession are two common movie themes, and here we get an explosive food obsession, although the food is merely the conduit in the pursuit of the award and the recognition that comes with it. Unbridled ambition is rarely attractive and often ends with a dose of disappointment or come-uppance. Director Boe, and two fine lead performances, give us a seat at the table for all courses.

A TASTE FOR HUNGER is being released in theaters on January 28, 2022.

A creative and driven Danish chef , who learned his trade in Japan , finally gains his own restaurant with a Michelin star as his ultimate goal. Great actors, storyline and attention to detail preparing his luxurious food.

This movie is mainly destined to gourmets - whom I am not - so maybe that's for this reason that I hardly feel any taste in my mouth watching it. I was at first afraid to be COVID infected - absence of taste - but I fastly realized that I focused on the wrong link to appreciate this dish movie. I preferd Ted Kotcheff's WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? Which was far more delightful than this one. Actually this film has to be seen as a drama, romance, nothing else. It remains an interesting movie after all, the rest concerns only a matter of approach. Nothing else.

Its definitely not the best movie but its not bad.it lucks on some fun . The actors caracter arent the top...Its not the best performance from Frederick......That why i give the movie the note 6.

Well what could you expect from this self-absorbed director other than another anal bore fest?.

Nicely filmed though.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is one of my favorite actors, and as always he has an excellent performance in this film. A Taste of Hunger was sold as Nikolai being the main actor, however the big star of this film is not him, but Katrine Greis-Rosenthal (Maggie). The plot developed throughout the film was completely wrapped around her character, leaving Carsten, Nikolai's character, in the background. There was no reason to create so much marketing over Nikolai's name and so little on Katrine, this is something that bothered me a lot, even though Nikolai is my favorite actor.

The story is interesting, with a justifiable personal desire of the character. The photography is wonderful, capturing beautiful elements and scenery from Denmark. I noticed some camera and continuation errors, but they are passable.

The plot developed throughout the film is quite warm until the middle, focusing exclusively on the desires, hopes and characteristics of the characters. And after all that, there's an interesting plot twist at the end of the movie, something that is, frankly, unimaginable.

Overall, A Taste of Hunger is a good movie to watch in the afternoon. It's not a film with an excellent plot, but it is... charismatic. The performances are excellent, soundtrack PERFECT, photography great, and a warm story.

I recommend.

This movie is about a little girl being traumatized by her entire family. The food and the couple are incredibly boring and bland.

Nothing about the movie is original or interesting really.

When it starts it looks like they're going to focus on the food, but then they completely forget about it.

The main plot of the movie is supposed to be about this chef not paying attention to his family in the pursue of a Michelin star, but they wrote it in this weird way that nothing ever feels justified, what he does doesn't feel that bad, and the way his wife reacts seems super over the top.

The whole thing is very clumsy and bland. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

There were moments when this Danish restaurant story looked as if it might have offered more promise, but as it moves forward it loses vital pace - with too many pretentious asides, slotted within too many flashbacks. For a movie about food, very little of it looked particularly appetizing, and the script offers up somewhat trite situations to excuse several of its main character's rather foolish extra marital indulgences. While the cast works hard and some locations are good-looking, overall it's largely a disappointment, seeming to run twice as long as it actually did.

The story quite heavily involves children, but with several suspect sex scenes, and crude dialogue throughout, it's certainly not recommended for young viewers. One scene has the main couple's traumatized little daughter being offered intense personal counselling, but this takes the form of group therapy (rather unlikely in this situation). The screenplay seems to bite off more than it can chew but will be a time passer for some.

Wunderfull movie. Slow starter, but it all comes together in the end, like a great dish.

Everything is too bright, too harsh. It's all 'almost,' but never really achieves what it has set out to do. I understand the food should look delectable. It does not. The building of the delicacy should be intricate and mesmerizing. It is not. The acting is thin and shallow. I believe none of it. I know where it wants to go. Others have done it beautifully. This is a solid fail.

... that about sums it all up... starting off better than it winds down... this is one of those reviews hard to write because there's not lots to say... production's not bad-terrible or good-memorable... lead actors are pretty looking, their actor-children are pretty-looking-too... the restaurant is pretty... the food is good looking... (275 characters to go)

... films you know are good you'll find yourselves watching again sometime, Smagen af sult probably not going to be falling into that category, or placed in the video library... should you have paid to watch this movie don't feel bad, MOJO has it grossing worldwide $172K, so you are in quite a small group... feeling-better.

The captivating film, A Taste of Hunger by Christoffer Boe, truly shows the perfection of the culinary world. Each dish in this movie is carefully arranged and perfectly cooked. The acting portrays the deep desire that every chef has to create a dish that the customer would never forget. I can almost smell all of the delicious food, as if the scent of sautéed oyster, cooked octopus, and fermented lemons are wafting through the screen.

The storyline revolves around a Danish couple, both culinary experts. Maggi (Katrine Greis-Rosenthal) and Carsten (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) both dream of only one accomplishment, receiving the world's most renowned culinary award, a Michelin star. Although their dream is big, they use every means of achieving it, even if it comes in the way of their relationship, and more importantly, their family. Will Maggi's affair destroy their dream altogether, or will they push past this bump in the long road to a Michelin star?

The protagonist, played by Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, portrays her character with a sense of mystery. You never truly know what is going on inside of Maggi's head. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays both a loving father and an uncompromising boss very realistically, giving the viewers mixed feelings of whether they should root for him or not. The food shown in this movie is designed to almost perfection, enhancing the quality of this film. My favorite part of the movie is the opening sequence. The beautifully presented food and the music create an enthralling introduction to the movie.

The message of this film is that working hard is the only way to achieve your dream. No matter how hard you try, there will always be setbacks and forks in the road, but to reach what you want, you have to get back up, no matter how many times you fall. This is an uplifting message to all those who have a big dream, no matter how hard it is to fulfill. The main age restriction of this movie is due to the sexual scenes. There are multiple scenes that would not be appropriate for ages 13 and under.

I give A Taste of Hunger 4 out of five stars and recommend it for ages 14 to 18, plus adults. It releases in theaters and on demand January 28, 2022.

By Nyara A., KIDS FIRST!

No pun intended - Game of Food? I don't think that works - though if you have used it, I am not saying you are wrong. I guess if you are responsible for a kitchen, for many people who cook (for you and customers), you have to be quite ... well hard and really "bossy". The start gives us a clear view of our main character and how he thinks and acts.

We may feel he is a bit too much - the way he commands and talks (down) to his employees ... but as I said, sometimes this is the only way to go about things. Add to that a really tough relationship and other issues that seem to lay in his way ... and you can feel for the guy ... especially towards the end ... both his wife and him ... we understand both perspectives ... or rather we can understand them both ... maybe we are more on one side than the other ... will it help or be an obstacle to his professional goals?

When I started watching this movie, I remembered that two or three days ago a good friend of mine, perhaps my best friend in many years, who is also my disciple and colleague (and who could be my great grandson), told me that he would love to have a way to nourish his body without having to eat all the processed food sold in restaurants and supermarkets, something like astronauts' "nutritive pills.

And I wondered, what am I doing watching a movie about a restaurateur who wants to win a Michelin star with the help of a ravishing brunette who becomes his associate, support and wife? I had my period in life when I would go to restaurants in Panamá and Cuba, where they would even charge you for breathing, to discover the pleasures of gastronomy, but right now I make do with less complicated dishes and fruits. However, the movie turned into a highly dramatic tale about family, betrayal, adultery, dysfunction, in a way that I am convinced that only Scandinavian filmmakers can accomplish. They are "cutting your veins" with the intensity of the drama, but everything runs smoothly, never letting your attention down, because they do it wonderfully.

The couple play little games of seduction, meeting in bars and secretly making love on the premises, but one night, during one of those encounters, a British guy from Michelin goes to their restaurant, and declines the dish of the house, because the chef in charge did not check the state of the fermented lemons used in the recipe. In seconds, everything turns to mess, and heads to possible bankruptcy, or closure, all because of a lemon. For a moment it seems that this is going to be the dramatic core of the story, but no, not at all.

The gastronomic incident opens the structure of the film. In that turning point, the movie guides us through the hard paths of a story that goes from present time to flashbacks that show how the man did not separate his profession from his roles as husband, lover and father, and in particular how he neglected his wife, when a suspicious mole appears on her skin. Biopsy, fear, the need to share the result of the test, and the husband's inaccessibility to listen to his wife, lead her to a restaurant worker who pays her too much attention... Complications mount and you have as main dish a complex situation in which love, family, business and resentment converge.

As I tell it, it may not sound very attractive, but do not be mistaken. The film's script is signed by Tobias Linholm, the talented man who has written several scripts for Thomas Vintenberg, such as «Submarino», «The Hunt»), «The Commune», and «Another Round,» as well as his own movies, «A Hijacking» (about Somali pirates), and «A War» (about a war crime in Afghanistan).

Be confident that you are in very good hands. It is not the typical film to disconnect us from those awfully dark transits of life or those somber dramas by Ingmar Bergman, but the ending is reassuring.