For a about a week I have been thinking about putting a condensed version of my blog post Julie & Julia on Huffington Post. This film was recommended to me, I went home, downloaded it and fell in love. Julie & Julia gets the balance just right for me, time and time again, even now I feel a call to watch it as it contained so much hidden inspiration and some very wise words. Depending on how I am feeling, I get different messages from this film.
In one scene the Julie character cries over a dropped stuffed chicken, actually sobbing on the floor... yeah I've been there and maybe occasionally catch myself back there again. Sometimes a good cry is just what is needed and other times it's not, it's about being the best you can be, reminding yourself why you are doing this and being very brave. Often one can be too much of a perfectionist (so me!), if you can, take a deep breath, stand back to find a solution before acknowledging the emotions. Emotions and irrational thinking might end up with it all in the bin and nothing for dinner! Tired and hungry is not a good combination. Although we did recently feel sorry for Iain, on The Great British Bake Off when throwing his ice cream in the bin, in the moment it felt like a good idea, afterwards.... Nope.
Source: Le Cordon Bleu
The tag line for Julie & Julia was to discover the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter... anything is possible. Well as healthy lifestyles have advanced and food intolerances exist, I would adapt this (with a little annotation) to.... Discover the right combination of passion (anything that will help you to nurture and grow), fearlessness (go for it... stop talking or thinking... just give it a try) and butter (swap for coconut oil?).... Anything is possible!
So low and behold either by law of attraction or my reticular activating system I've just watched the trailer to The Hundred-Foot Journey, this looks brilliant! A real journey with food, filming looks very similar to Julie & Julia, getting so close to the food intertwined with the story and appeal of the characters and well this film speaks volumes to me already. Watching an interview on Lorraine, Helen Mirren comments that the film reminds you of how important food is in all of our lives and how much fun food can be. One message from this film is that food equals memory, more than anything else, it evokes the sense of smell, sense of taste which conjure the memory and it can take your right back to the first time your tried it, remember the whole scene around you, even right back into your childhood.
Source:Wikipedia
Just to mention another great feel good film is Ratatouille a great all rounder for the whole family. The sense of smell and taste linked with fond memories is expressed with this adventure. Also that "anyone can cook".
One last thing to consider when watching food films, as they really can make you hungry.... is it best to eat before hand and go prepared? Or to plan (and book) somewhere to go after you've watched the film, as you can then really enjoy your dinner! The latter is what Helen Mirren would choose to do when going to watch The Hundred-Foot Journey out in cinemas 5th September 2014 (UK).