Tonight's movie: Kings of Pastry. It's the first night of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and this was the grand opening movie. Directed by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker (who were in attendance and spoke briefly before the screening -- there was also a Q&A session after but I was kinda tired by that point so we didn't stay), it's a look at the MOF, a pastry chef competition that's similar to Bocuse d'Or. Wonderful movie and highly recommended if you get a chance to see it. One of the interesting things to me was the ways it differed from the standard Food Network coverage of events like MOF. Mostly I think it's because Hegedus/Pennebaker took more time to tell the story. Not having to cram everything into 50 min. makes their movie feel less rushed and their storytelling more organic. Sarah said she thought the movie did a better job of finding subtle ways to advance the plot and tell the story. I agree with that. I think Hegedus/Pennebaker trust their audience and trust their story so they're not hitting us over the head with "big moments" or contrived story arcs. More thoughts on the movie behind the cut
One of my fave bits was an almost throwaway shot early on of a dog waiting right outside the open door of a patisserie (and the bit o' business w/ a pigeon from right before that). And even though I have never had to deal with the kind of pressure Jacquy Pfeiffer had to when he was participating in MOF, there was one moment I completely related to -- a long, complicated explanation/demonstration of a complicated cake he's working on. We see him making it. We see him diagramming it out on a white board. Then he does a tasting for the chef who is helping him get ready. The tasting doesn't go well and he takes half the cake and dumps it in a trash can. There was an audible gasp from the audience but my only thought was "man, I know how you feel..."
There's plenty of gorgeous food p0rn close-ups of macarons and various pastries. Ridiculous tension as the chefs try to move their elaborate sugar sculptures. This was the only point in the movie where I felt they lapsed into Food Network territory. Somewhat inevitable, I guess, but I did catch them switch to tense, dramatic music right before something tense and dramatic happened.
I noticed that one of the other competing chefs talked about getting his start at Lenotre (the Parisian patiesserie that has a branch in Vegas), so that was pretty cool. I also want to mention how much I love that MOF translates as "best craftsmen in France."
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