Reviews, The Truffle Hunters, Minari and Days of the Bagnold Summer
Dogs are being poisoned, truffles are being poached. Yet elderly men still risk their lives for 4500 euros per kilo for the delicacy.
The Truffle Hunters (M)
Limited release
★★★★
The rare white truffle is worth €4500 per kilo. That’s one of the facts we learn from the exquisite documentary The Truffle Hunters, which is a tribute to the elderly men who still pursue the culinary delicacy as though they are panning for gold.
In the northwest corner of Italy, there are still forests with a sufficient number of oak trees for the white truffle to be found. The octogenarian hunters from this part of Piedmont, with the invaluable help of their beloved and well-trained dogs, scour the woods day and night. Each man has his own territory and each guards his secrets closely.
American filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw photographed and directed The Truffle Hunters, a beguiling film. They clearly bonded with the intrepid hunters, who permitted the filming not only of their hunting but also of the bargaining that inevitably goes on with the middlemen who make a fortune selling the rare commodity to A-class restaurants in Europe and elsewhere.
One of the hunters we meet is Amelio. He lives alone with his dog, sharing his food with the animal and talking to it as though it were human. He knows that his days are numbered, and he worries about what will happen to his beloved friend when he is gone. Another is Carlo, aged 87, who is married and constantly defies his wife who wants him to retire; she especially doesn’t want him to go out hunting at night, but he’s a stubborn old man and he defies her.
Her concern is understandable because there’s an element of danger to truffle hunting. The truffles have become so valuable that criminals are closing in. Dogs are being poisoned, truffles are being poached. And some of the backstreet deals are getting shadier.
This is not a fly-on-the-wall documentary in which a hand-held camera follows the actions of the protagonists. On the contrary, one of the great strengths of the film is the pristine cinematography. Scene after scene is lit and framed like a classical painting. To accomplish this, the filmmakers would have required a degree of rehearsal. Camera set-ups like those in the film take time and effort to achieve the effect required. So it follows that the seemingly “impromptu” discussions that the directors have filmed were prepared to a certain extent. The truffle hunters and those around them aren’t actors, of course, but they are articulate and confident. Not that this device of staging the scenes matters one bit. The end result is quite marvellous.
Early in the film a younger man is seen attempting to persuade one of the old hunters to reveal the secret places where he searches for the rare white truffles. The old man vehemently refuses; even if his secret dies with him, he says, he will tell no one the location.
The end result of all this is that a small number of very rich people are able to access the supposedly delectable delicacies. The film includes a scene in a smart restaurant. The only diner is a rather large, very well-dressed man who tucks into a plate of eggs with truffles, washed down with red wine. What looks like a simple meal must have cost a small fortune, but that, in the end, is what the hunt for truffles is all about.
See this wonderful-looking documentary on a big cinema screen if you possibly can.
-
Days of the Bagnold Summer (M)
Limited cinema release
★★★★
The curious title of this very likeable British film refers to the names of the mother and son around whom the tart comedy revolves. Susan Bagnold (Monica Dolan), who is in her early 50s, lives in an English suburb with her 15-year-old son, Daniel (Earl Cave).
Susan has been abandoned by her husband who now lives in Florida with his new, younger, wife, and — she’s amazed to hear — drives a convertible. Susan works in a library and has few social contacts apart from her caring sister, Carol (Alice Lowe), and Astrid (Tamsin Greig), the talkative mother of Daniel’s best friend, Ky (Elliot Speller-Gillott).
Daniel, with his long hair and scruffy appearance, is a metalhead. He’s lazy, churlish and monosyllabic, but he’s looking forward to spending the summer with his dad in the US. That prospect ends abruptly when dad phones to call it off, using as an excuse his pregnant wife’s imminent delivery date. So Daniel and his mum have to spend the summer alone.
I’m sure in Days of the Bagnold Summer many will recognise teenagers like Daniel who are so self-absorbed that they have little to contribute. He has dreams of singing in a band and is encouraged by the gangling, engaging Ky; but the band to whose ad he responds turns out to be a trio of 10-year-olds.
Susan, meanwhile, who dresses in dowdy cardigans and wears thick glasses, is invited on a dinner date by Douglas Porter (Rob Brydon), Daniel’s history teacher. Daniel is appalled at the thought of his mum and his teacher getting together, but he needn’t worry because things don’t turn out too well.
In essence, this film — based on a graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, scripted by Lisa Owens and beautifully directed by Simon Bird — is about the slowly growing bond between mother and son. Simon Tindall’s strikingly dramatic widescreen photography is extremely impressive, but it’s the performances, and the truths inherent in the drama, that linger in the mind.
-
Minari (PG)
Limited cinema release
★★★★
Minari, or Oenanthe javanica, also known as waterdropwort, is perennial herb popularly used as a vegetable in parts of Asia, especially Korea.
The film Minari is the autobiography of writer-director Lee Isaac Chung, who came to America with his parents in the 1980s. It is a quite beautiful film in which the simple story unfolds through the eyes of young David (Alan Kim).
When the film begins David’s parents, Jacob (Steven Yuen) and his wife Monica (Yeri Han), together with his older sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) are on the move. The family has been living in California where Jacob and Monica have found work sexing chicks (the birds are divided by sex and most of the males are disposed of).
Working at this tedious job has allowed the family to save a certain amount of money, and Jacob is determined to fulfil his dream to have his own farm and grow Korean vegetables for sale to Asian restaurants. Land is relatively cheap in Arkansas, so that’s where the family has decided to settle.
Jacob has acquired an old campervan and the field on which it’s parked, and at first Monica is less than thrilled about the primitive accommodation. But she makes the most of it and before long has turned it into a home. The parents find work in a local chicken sexing facility and commence making friends in the small community.
David is a source of concern to his parents. He has a heart murmur (he is constantly reminded not to run) but he seems to thrive in this rural setting.
Jacob sets about fulfilling his dream of becoming a farmer, and even gives part-time work to Paul (Will Patton), an eccentric character who trudges the local roads every Sunday carrying a crucifix.
After a while, Monica’s widowed mother Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung) arrives from Korea to live with the family.
At first David, who has to share a room with his grandmother, is not at all happy with the new arrangement; she smells funny, he complains, and he hates the foul-smelling mixture of herbs she insists that he drinks for his health. His method of retaliation is hilarious.
Another problem for the family is the shortage of water. When he first arrives, Jacob off-handedly rejects the services of a water diviner, and later comes to regret it.
The family faces all kinds of setbacks but they prevail – just like the minari that Grandma has planted down by the creek.
The film feels like a series of childhood memories come to life which, in a real sense, it is.
Though the pacing is leisurely, the delightful natural performances and closely observed details are a constant source of delight. Chung doesn’t manipulate his audience, but the depth of feeling on display here will touch many a viewer.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout