Une affaire de goût (2000)
Directed by Bernard Rapp

Film Review

This is a well-crafted, compelling psychological thriller, the second film to be directed by the well known French broadcaster and writer Bernard Rapp.   Sadistic manipulation and the psychological dependency that can induce in its victims are the film's main themes, explored with chilling realism and immediacy.  This is partly down to Rapp's masterful direction (heightened by the sombre photography), but it is also the product of some exquisite performances from the lead actors Bernard Giraudeau and Jean-Pierre Lorit.

Although the film follows a fairly conventional structure, the narrative is cleverly intercut with a series of flash-forwards involving a judicial investigation.  This way, the film's outcome is revealed near the start of the film, effectively creating a feeling of mounting suspense as the story gradually unfolds to explain why things had to end that way.

The result is a captivating piece of cinema which takes its audience on an unpredictable journey into the murky subconscious perversity of its self-destructive protagonists.

Film Synopsis

Frédéric Delamont is a rich and powerful industrialist who takes an almost sadistic relish in exerting his power and influence over others.  When he meets Nicolas Rivière, a young and impressionable waiter in a high class restaurant, he realises he has found a new plaything to amuse him.  Naive and trusting to a fault, Nicolas is easily lured away from his present job by a more than generous salary to become Frédéric's personal food taster.  Ignoring the concerns of his girlfriend Béatrice, who suspects Delamont of having a sordid ulterior motive, Nicolas begins his new job with enthusiasm and soon moves in with his employer.

With a cunning tinged with sadism, Frédéric succeeds in accustoming his willing lackey to his own tastes in food and then provides him with a wardrobe and apartment that are to his own liking.  It seems that an essential part of the relationship is that Nicolas's tastes should match Frédéric's precisely, and this applies to every aspect of their lives - food, clothes, décor, even women.  During a short stay in Lyon, Nicolas is foisted by his employer on a woman at their hotel, taking his place when the time comes for the romantic act to be consummated.  Nicholas's job, after all, is to taste, not to consume.

On a whim, Frédéric then sends his victim off to the harsh deserts of Tunisia to have a taste of solitude.  On his return, a weary and miserable Nicholas is horrified to find that his employer has found himself a new food taster.  Amused by his plaything's show of jealousy, Frédéric promptly reinstates him, realising that there is still plenty of fun to be had from a master-servant relationship that is growing crueller and more perverse by the day.  The programme of humiliation and subjugation continues, until finally Nicholas can take no more...