MENUS-PLAISIRS — Les Troisgros
Frederick Wiseman
Presented only in theatres
The legendary Frederick Wiseman (Honorary Oscar in 2016 and Golden Lion in 2014) offers us an immersion into the Maison Troisgros, a French temple of gastronomy awarded three Michelin stars. Selected in Venice and Toronto, this documentary takes us from the backstage of the market, through the kitchens, to the making of cheeses, wine… to convey the philosophy and the incredible fluidity of this exceptional house. A unique opportunity to dive into the world of high-level gastronomic cuisine, where the dishes prepared are true “ephemeral works of art,” as Wiseman would say.
Word of direction
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 Michelin Guide for a good restaurant nearby. I found Troisgros and we had a great lunch there.
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 family’s restaurant. He said he would think about it and came back half an hour later and said, “why not?”.
César and his father, Michel, exchanged letters with me and granted formal permission to film. I waited to shoot the film until spring of 2022, when the COVID epidemic waned.
Troisgros has had three Michelin stars for fifty-five years. Culinary art is a French institution. Troisgros is an outstanding example of the French culinary tradition which stretches back for centuries. Watching César and Michel Troisgros at work was like being in the studio of great artists.
I saw how the combination of imagination, hard work, sensitivity, intelligence and tradition combined to produce the multiple works of transitory and ephemeral art that each combination of ingredients represented on every plate served.
I found the art of the Troisgros related to the creative work I explored in films such as the La Comédie-Française ou L’Amour Joué, and La Danse — Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris as well as having links to the other films in my institutional series.
- Frederick Wiseman
The legendary Frederick Wiseman (Honorary Oscar in 2016 and Golden Lion in 2014) offers us an immersion into the Maison Troisgros, a French temple of gastronomy awarded three Michelin stars. Selected in Venice and Toronto, this documentary takes us from the backstage of the market, through the kitchens, to the making of cheeses, wine… to convey the philosophy and the incredible fluidity of this exceptional house. A unique opportunity to dive into the world of high-level gastronomic cuisine, where the dishes prepared are true “ephemeral works of art,” as Wiseman would say.
Word of direction
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 Michelin Guide for a good restaurant nearby. I found Troisgros and we had a great lunch there.
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 family’s restaurant. He said he would think about it and came back half an hour later and said, “why not?”.
César and his father, Michel, exchanged letters with me and granted formal permission to film. I waited to shoot the film until spring of 2022, when the COVID epidemic waned.
Troisgros has had three Michelin stars for fifty-five years. Culinary art is a French institution. Troisgros is an outstanding example of the French culinary tradition which stretches back for centuries. Watching César and Michel Troisgros at work was like being in the studio of great artists.
I saw how the combination of imagination, hard work, sensitivity, intelligence and tradition combined to produce the multiple works of transitory and ephemeral art that each combination of ingredients represented on every plate served.
I found the art of the Troisgros related to the creative work I explored in films such as the La Comédie-Française ou L’Amour Joué, and La Danse — Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris as well as having links to the other films in my institutional series.
- Frederick Wiseman
Other festivals:
Biennale di Venezia, Italy (2023)
International Film Festival Toronto, Canada (2023)
Film Festival NYC, United States (2023)
BFI London Film Festival, England (2023)
AFI Fest Hollywood, United States (2023)
Biennale di Venezia, Italy (2023)
International Film Festival Toronto, Canada (2023)
Film Festival NYC, United States (2023)
BFI London Film Festival, England (2023)
AFI Fest Hollywood, United States (2023)
| Director | Frederick Wiseman, Frederick Wiseman |
| Director of Photography | James Bishop |
| Production | Karen Konicek, Olivier Giel |
| Sound Recording | Jean-Paul Mugel |
| Colorization | Gilles Granier |
In Partnership with
Session
• Cinéma du Musée - Auditorium Maxwell-Cummings
Monday, march 18, 2024, 06:30 p.m. — 10:30 p.m.
Production
Frederick Wiseman
Mr. Wiseman is a film and theater director of 46 films, primarily focusing on American institutions. In 2019, he was the honoree of the Library Lions Award from the New York Public Library and received the Pennebaker Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. In 2018, he was the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. In 2016, he received an Honorary Award for lifetime achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Directors. He is a MacArthur Fellow, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has won numerous awards, including four Emmys. In recent years, he directed The Belle of Amherst, Beckett’s Happy Days in Paris and Vasily Grossman’s The Last Letter at the Comédie-Française in Paris and Theatre for a New Audience in New York. A ballet inspired by his first film, TITICUT FOLLIES (1967), premiered at the New York University Skirball Theater in 2017.
Biographical notes provided by the film production team
Biographical notes provided by the film production team
Selected Films :
A couple (2022)
City Hall ( 2020)
Monrovia (2018)
Ex Libris – The New York Public Library (2017)
In Jackson Heights (2015)
A couple (2022)
City Hall ( 2020)
Monrovia (2018)
Ex Libris – The New York Public Library (2017)
In Jackson Heights (2015)
