The marketing blurb for this year’s Spanish Film Festival claims 18 Meals to be 'in the tradition of Love Actually and Paris je t’aime". Thankfully director and co-writer Jorge Coira’s feature, while uneven, is considerably better than that.
Set in the historic and picturesque town of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwest Spain, 18 Meals weaves together several stories taking place on the same day. Given its title there are no prizes for guessing these narrative strands revolve around the preparation and eating of the three main meals of the day as experienced by a relatively large cast of characters. Conveniently lending themselves to a conventional three-act structure, breakfast lunch and dinner are taken one at a time.
At first this looks as if it is going to be one of those tasteful (in more ways than one) and perennially popular films such as Babette’s Feast, Big Night, Eat Drink Man Woman and The Scent of Green Papaya. These films often revolve around cooking, with lavish sequences devoted to the kitchen process, complete with lingering close-ups, and a doting on social ritual. At their best they whisk all their foodie ingredients into a suitably dramatic blend; at their worst they’re little more than food porn (Eat Pray Love, I’m thinking of you).
18 Meals initially looks as if it might be at the throwaway end of the continuum. The opening sequences appear inconsequential and sometimes a little baffling (E.g. Why are these two men sitting in a bodega drinking wine for breakfast? What do the continual shots of a busker have to do with anything?), with only the preparation of various breakfasts to entice the interest.
When the characters get to lunchtime, however, the film’s narrative strategy comes more clear. The first act was merely the set up, introducing us to most of the characters. The second act is where the dramatic conflicts come into play and we see there’s far more at stake in these people’s lives than what brand of sliced meat to buy.
There’s two terrific sequences here, each hinging upon extreme social tension, with a sense that events could go any way at any moment. One concerns a gay couple, at home preparing for the lunchtime visit of a brother who knows nothing of his sibling’s sexual preference – and the plan is to keep things that way.
The second finds the busker (Luis Tosar, a dead ringer for Ireland’s James Nesbitt) as the lunch guest of a nervous but attractive woman. All we know at first is that she is married and that they’re old acquaintances who haven’t seen each for several years. Her sexual interest in him quickly becomes obvious but is greeted by the guest with wariness and curiosity. Esperanza Pedreño, as the woman, and Tosar dance a pas de deux that keeps the viewer on the edge of the seat.
The final section, 'dinner", tidies up some of the latter story but the tales it introduces are a bit of a let-down. One involves an accidental death, after which there’s nowhere interesting to go. Another ends up at a barbecue to no good dramatic effect. The worst however is a sequence involving an attractive woman having dinner in a restaurant with a man I took to be her grandfather. He turns out to be her lover. This is not only unbelievable but just a bit revolting. For all the weaker passages, though, its highpoints are strong enough to warrant a viewing.
