Joaquin Oristrell's 'La Dieta Mediterranea'
- thewunderblog
- Mar 2, 2019
- 2 min read
In order, sexual tension, gender politics and food culture were probably the main themes of Joaquin Oristrell's 2009 film La Dieta Mediterranea. La Dieta Mediterranea was a 'foodie film' that ended up decidedly not being about food. I would tend towards defining a food film as one which positions food as an irremovable aspect of the narrative. La Dieta Mediterranea follows the plight of Sofia, who grows up with childhood friends Toni and Frank. She marries Toni, while simultaneously in love with Frank, and struggles with balancing her complex personal life and elevating herself in her career. Irrelevant and unnecessary is the fact that she wants to become a chef, or that she cooks in true Catalan style, where she was born and raised. In fact, the only necessary aspect of the storyline is the romance and the sex.
In a failed attempt to highlight how significant of a role innovation and creativity in cooking can be transformative, Oristrell instead conveys a confused message of female ambition simultaneously hindered and encouraged by a complex 'throuple' situation between a married couple and an extra lover and business partner. Whilst issues of gender are highlighted through Sofia's frustration at her parents' belief that "women do not cook for money" and in Sofia's steely reserve to work her way to the top, quality food scenes describing the 'performative' nature of French cooking, or detailing Sofia's creative flavour pairings throughout her youth are sprinkled in between tacky romantic plot-lines, rendering the film a confused, albeit slightly entertaining, mess.
Having read Pujol's beautiful account of Catalan regionality, its rich history and the fact that it is "open to new horizons", I would loved to have seen more emphasis on Catalan produce, gastronomy and food culture in Oristrell's film. It seems almost disrespectful to create a food film set in a place with such an extended history of food-related revolution, and completely ignore its cuisine. Ultimately, Oristrell's La Dieta Meditteranea does not hit the mark of a quality food film. It scores above and beyond in the category of romantic comedy, but makes little effort to break out of this classification.
Love, Ingrid
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