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MOVIE CRITIC: “Vatel”

The story takes place in France in 1671 and features a common man, a king and a woman caught between them. 1671 is the year when France is in decline under the rule of Louis XIV. The extravagant spending of the court nobility left the people struggling to survive. The suffering people brought their grievances to the palace, but failed to bring the sense of crisis to the royal family at the same time. At this time, Prince of Condé, who was in charge of the northern cities of France, was only concerned with preparing a lavish banquet for the king's arrival, to please the “father” and to free himself from the economic crisis.

For me the film's narrative is very mediocre, a bit like a historical documentary. But the film perfectly recreates the opulence of the French 17th century court feast, the sets, costumes and accessories are magnificent. The film's great attention to detail has resulted in the film being as true to history as possible. As a result, the film's plot is highly immersive and convincing.

The main character, François Vatel, is the chief steward of the Prince of Condé, who is responsible for organizing the three-day banquet to be hosted by the Prince. Vatel's culinary skills are amazing. First of all, as the chef, Vatel has a great ability to organize and coordinate the staff. In the film we often see Vatel organizing and coordinating the work of the kitchen in an orderly manner. At the same time, Vatel's professional skills as a chef are also amazing. He has a high level of familiarity with ingredients and is able to prepare the required ingredients before he starts cooking. He also has excellent cooking skills, and in the film he uses many complex and exquisite cooking techniques to prepare the dishes, his cooking skills are a perfect representation of the delicate side of French cuisine, and his cooking process is also pleasing to the audience. Vatel also specializes in the presentation of food, and ordinary dishes can be given a new lease of life through his work. All in all, Vatel has mastered the essence of French cuisine, and his passion and dedication to food is equally amazing.

In the film, Vatel brilliantly completes the task given to him by the prince, and all the guests at the banquet are satisfied and amazed by what they have heard and seen. The appearance of a noblewoman named Anne makes Vatel fall in love, but unfortunately, Louis XIV also seems to want Anne, and in front of such a powerful rival, Vatel is in pain. Meanwhile, on the third day of the banquet, Vatel finds himself no longer able to please the court. He finds himself nothing more than a puppet and a property of his superiors. All this tragedy destroys him, and he finally decides to commit suicide with his sword. The ending of the movie made me feel sentimental. In addition, I also deeply understood the powerlessness of the main character Vatel in the 17th century French court.

Source: Wikipedia

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BIOGRAPHY:

Welcome to my blog, my name is Borui Cui, and I am 20 years old. I came from Guizhou province in southern China. There are many special and charming food in my hometown. However, most of the dishes from my hometown are very spicy, such as rice noodle and hotpot. The spicy flavor is a challenge for many outlanders, but it is a really a great enjoyment for me. Growing up in my hometown enabled me to taste many popular delicacies in China. With that being said, I had few opportunities to cook in my childhood, so I hardly knew the process and skills of cooking. At the age of 18, I went to Cambodia to work as an IT technician. After starting to live alone, cooking has become an inevitable activity every day. At first, I can only rely on some convenience foods to survive. As expected, I soon got tired of this tasteless food. Since then, I began to look for recipes from the internet and accumulated experience through constant attempts. For cooking Chinese food, the process of preparing ingredients and cooking is not easy, and the amount of seasoning also needs to be accurately controlled. But after tasting my own food, I still feel a strong sense of achievement and satisfaction. Besides Chinese food, I also have great enthusiasm for food from all over the world. As an international city, Montreal has a rich variety of food, it is a pleasure for me to live here.

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