Product Details

• Actors: Artus de Penguern, Bernard Giraudeau, Jean-Pierre Laud, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Anne-Marie Philipe
• Directors: Bernard Rapp
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Synkronized USA
• DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0013D8LXG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,158 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Frédéric Delamont is an industrial magnate in his fifties. He is at the peak of his success, refined, original and phobic. He meets Nicolas Rivière, a young man, prone to odd jobs and adversity. Frédéric offers Nicolas a large salary to become his personal food taster. That which started as a light, unusual gastronomic adventure, will soon reveal itself to be a much more dangerous game for both men.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative French thriller, January 2, 2002

By 

klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Bernard Rapp's tight and unusual thriller is constructed in flashback, a la "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." A terrible crime has been committed and the events that led to it are slowly dissected. The plot unfolds as a disturbing and peculiarly Gallic version of the Pygmalion story, with Bernard Giraudeau and Jean-Pierre Lorit giving masterful performances as a rich businessman and ne'er-do-well waiter entwined in an increasingly perverse and strange relationship, though it is never clear whether the employer's attraction for his handsome employee is motivated by sexual desire or some darker attraction. It is to this film's credit that it achieves its unsettling effect on the viewer without resorting to graphic sex or violence, and no slander to say that memories of Hitchcock are evoked during its course, particularly "Rope" and "Strangers on a Train." Highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seduction does indeed take many forms, September 28, 2001

By 

Tauna "blktauna" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Nicolas Riviere (Jean-Pierre Lorit) is unaware that his employment as Frederic Delamont's (Bernard Giraudeau) taster will put him on a dark spiraling path to oblivion. It starts out innocently enough but soon Delamont is obsessed by Riviere and in turn Riviere become entranced by Delamont, his wealth and his ever extreme lifestyle. Soon Nicolas is tasting more than food for Delamont. The relationship between the two men is extremely erotic but you don't really know if they've become lovers or not. Nicolas' girlfriend thinks so, but everything is open to intepretation among the lies and deceptions.

Giraudeau is extremely sexy with a voice like honey. He is amazing as the manipulative millionaire. Lorit does an excellent job as the regular guy taken to a place far out of his league. Rapp's direction is tight and the format of the film is clever. I didn't agree with some of the subtitling as they missed some of the subtleties of what was being implied. (spoiler - they were trying for a Crime of Passion defense, not insanity) All in all a most addicting and wonderful modern noir film.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Film Festival Fare, October 1, 2002

By 

Matthew A. Brown "Matt" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Matter of Taste (DVD)

This movie played at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2001 and I happened to catch it. The plot follows a wealthy, powerful business man and the waiter he hires to become his food taster. A strange premise, but I thought, rife with possibilities. Sexual undertones are suggested and a power struggle ensues as the employer tries to involve his new employee in increasingly bizarre activites. Overall, an enjoyable movie, but definitely film festival fare. The version I saw was French with English subtitles.