Film: Food and Filmmakers

Narrative mechanics and symbolism aside, food and eating scenes can also be tempting, as a practical matter, for filmmakers. Dialogue scenes are easy to shoot at the table, and meals can bring out subtleties of character, especially if a meal that is meant to bond characters is shadowed by hostile conversation. Food, like cigarettes, also gives actors something to do with their hands. Of course, however casual or “throwaway” these images may seem, they still take considerable planning and thoughtful execution.