Brigitte Catillon

Occupation

Actor

The Taste Of Others Review

By Julia Levin

Excellent

In The Taste of Others, a wealthy suburban businessman named Castella gets infatuated with a theatrical actress and becomes a frequent visitor of her bohemian circle of friends. The premise might not be very original but the delicious twist of the story is that it is not so much about Castella's pursuit as it is about how different social strata are formed and how they intersect with one another.

Castella (Jean-Pierre Bacri) and his wife have to attend a local stage production of Bérénice, in which their daughter plays a small part. They don't care for the theatre and can't understand the verse, but, to Castella's own surprise, he finds himself unusually moved by a leading actress Clara. The charming point here is that Clara isn't a young aspiring theatrical diva but an aging, harried, and often unemployed actress from a small provincial theatre. Castella, however, doesn't see her that way: For him, she brings into his dispassionate routine the whiff of a free-spirited life including cozy, drunken late-night talks and vibrant gallery gatherings. Through happenstance, Castella's new business arrangement requires him to learn English, and Clara (Anne Alvaro) becomes his teacher.

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