Food of Love (Manjar de amor)
Ventura Pons, director.
Spain/Germany, 2001, 35mm, 105 min.
English and Spanish with English subtitles.
Official Web site: www.venturapons.com

"Every great artist is a vampire," says piano teacher Novotna (Geraldine McEwan) to her 18-year old pupil, Paul (Kevin Bishop),warning him that artists can drain the life and love from their admirers. When Paul finds himself drawn into an affair with his idol, world-famous pianist Richard Kennington (Paul Rhys), their roles seem obvious: Paul is the wide-eyed innocent, Kennington the world-weary seducer.

But real people seldom fit in such pat categories, as veteran Catalan director Ventura Pons eloquently demonstrates in his first English-language feature, based on David Leavitt's novel, The Page Turner. Paul is ambitious; he wants to follow in Kennington's footsteps. But what if Paul's talent as a pianist is not as great as his teacher led him to believe? Looking for his place in the world, Paul gravitates toward older men secure in their accomplishments - men who see him not as an artist but as a beautiful boy. The delicate, ambiguous give-and-take between this protégé and his mentors leads to a series of unexpected and excruciating confrontations - and one of the most starry-eyes finales in recent memory.

Filmed in San Francisco, New York and Barcelona, Food of Love features a fine ensemble cast that includes the delightful Juliet Stevenson, who seems to be having the time of her life playing Paul's well-meaning but maddeningly clueless mother.

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