MENUS-PLAISIRS — Les Troisgros

Frederick Wiseman / United States / 2023 / Czech Premiere / 240 min.

synopsis

The three-star Michelin restaurant La Maison Troisgros was founded in the same year that Frederick Wiseman was born. The ninety-three-year-old filmmaker decided to make his 44th film about it, aptly titled “small pleasures”, and thus fulfil one of his longstanding dreams. He spent several weeks in the renowned establishment in the French town of Roanne in the spring of 2022, when the long-time owners were handing over the business to their son. The four-hour documentary slowly reveals the inner workings of the restaurant, which has been run by the Troisgros family for four generations. Alongside the management and staff, Wiseman patiently observes the chefs preparing delicious culinary creations.

“During the summer of 2020, I stayed at a friend’s house in Burgundy for a month. To thank my friends, I looked in the Guide Michelin for a good restaurant nearby. I found Troisgros and we had a great lunch. After the meal, the Chef, César Troisgros stopped by our table. We thanked him for the delicious meal. Without planning, I suddenly asked him whether he would consider having a documentary film made about his restaurant. He said he would think about it and came back a half an hour later and said, “why not?” We then exchanged some letters, and he granted me formal permission. I waited to shoot the film until spring of 2022, when the Covid epidemic waned.” — Frederick Wiseman

Source: La Biennale di Venezia 2023

biography

Frederick Wiseman (born 1930) is a trained lawyer and one of America's most successful documentary filmmakers. His many hours of observational studies of mostly American institutions – from a hospital and high school to a police department and Boston City Hall – have won dozens of awards in the area of film and beyond it.