Parky At the Pictures (2/1/2026)

(Reviews of Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros; and No Time For Goodbye)

MENUS-PLAISIRS - LES TROISGROS.

Fifty-nine years have passed since Frederick Wiseman made his first observational documentary, Titicut Follies (1967). Having examined various aspects of institutional and communal life in the United States, he relocated to France, where he has focussed more on matters creative than politics and the social fabric. Now, following La Comédie-Française ou l'Amour joué (1996), La Danse (2009), and Crazy Horse (2011), Wiseman (who turned 96 on New Year's Day) presents Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros (2023), a profile of a three-star Michelin restaurant that captured his imagination while dining there. Shot over 35 consecutive days in 2022 at Le Bois Sans Feuilles in the Loire village of Ouches, this is a typically discreet and compelling exercise in Direct Cinema that sprawls like a leisurely lunch over four hours.

After brothers César and Léo tour the farmers' market in Roanne, they meet with father Michel at Le Central to discuss the suitability of pike for making quenelles. When César leaves, Michel and Léo discuss the need for almond purée in an asparagus and rhubarb starter that the latter is serving. Michel also offers some Sicilian caper leaves to lend some tasty novelty.

La Maison Troigros is situated in glorious countryside in Ouches and we see a delivery being unloaded by the younger members of the kitchen staff. They sort produce, while more senior chefs in traditional whites fillet fish, slice meat, chop herbs, whisk sauces, and dip everything from eggs to ribs for cooking. The reverential silence is broken only by the sound of utensils, pans, and dishes and the odd request or piece of advice for the juniors, who know to work with speed and precision while not wasting anything.

The same attention to detail is evident as tables are laid in the restaurant, where sommelier Christian Vermorel is discussing wine prices and deciding what to place on the wine list and what to lay down in the cellar. However, the mood is lighter when five younger members of the kitchen staff venture into the grounds in search of wild garlic blossom, which requires the only girl in the group to climb on a lad's shoulders to reach the highest flowers.

César visits a cattle farm and hears about the benefits of prairie grasses and the grazing regimen used by a farmer who believes that meats should be graded like wines because not everyone employs the same organic methods. He returns to check on some curing hams and discuss fish orders with his chefs. In the restaurant, the manager runs through the new dishes on the menu and the dietary requirements of the clientele expected for lunch. He also reminds them to be careful with the language they use among themselves, as in-jokes aren't always appreciated by everyone. Michel's wife, Marie-Pierre Troisgros, ends the briefing by presenting some of the waitresses with sprigs of lily of the valley.

After César samples a mixture of strawberry and caviar, Michel shows a young chef how to layer gold leaf on a crème caramel. Serving staff explain menus and take orders, while Michel and the sommelier tour tables to chat with their white, well-heeled clients about their choices. Despite their sense of entitlement, the diners seem in awe of Michel, as he reassures parents with a fussy eater that palates take time to develop. He reveals that César was picky as a child, but has now followed him into the family firm, as did he and his father before him.

Both men are busy in the kitchen during service. César plates up some asparagus before showing a chef how to shell crayfish and prepare an eel, while Michel advises on the use of salt and the importance of a dish looking good so that the client anticipates the taste even more. Orders come in at regular intervals, but there's never a sense of panic, as in so many kitchens in TV cookery shows and movies. Concentration is high to ensure each dish lives up to expectations and those high Troisgros standards. Following more mingling, with one group of middle-aged men sampling wines with their taster menu, father and son are back in the kitchen, coaxing, chiding, and clarifying to make sure the younger chefs avoid making and repeating mistakes. One chef who has not properly drained the blood vessels from some brains gets a tip from Michel to consult Escoffier or the Larousse Encyclopedia if he's ever in doubt.

As a John Dory `rose' is cooked to be served on a bed of green curry to an English-speaking quartet who all take photos on their phones, a magnificent cheeseboard is wheeled into the dining-room and a young couple look bewildered, as the waiter describes each cheese and its provenance. Another waiter goes through the desserts with a man who doesn't like cocoa to ensure he can sample one of the specials.

There's a little homage to the Lumière short, Le Repas de bébé (1895), as Michel watches César's wife feeding pasta to his granddaughter before we see little bird nests being grilled to house an egg covered in white chocolate. Each dessert is fiddly to make, but painstaking care is taken to give the plate a pleasing aspect before it is whisked off by one of the black-clad waitresses and you are left to wonder whether even the foodiest of the clients really appreciates the artistry, as well as the culinary skill, that goes into meals for which they have paid a small fortune.

Across the verdant countryside, we find the village of Iguerande, where Léo runs La Colline du Colombier. His chefs wear white aprons over black t-shirts, as they prepare dishes for a dinner in support of Ukraine and he goes through the ingredients with partner Lisa Roche so she knows what not to feed clients with intolerances. She runs through the requirements with the serving staff and points out who is a VIP for the evening, while Léo plates up intricate red salads. The service feels more relaxed and the guests less precious, with one noting how much Léo looks like his mother, but sounds like his father.

Michel visits an organic goat farm to learn about the milking cycle and samples some cheese before we see the goats being let out to pasture in a stunning lakeside field. César and Léo visit a vegetable grower, who takes them to a greenhouse full of giant tomatoes, while some of the younger chefs get a guided tour of a cheese storage facility and learn about how washing, drying, and temperature changes impact on the taste and texture of brands like Comté. The next stop is Les Blondins, the vineyard run by Stéphane Sérol, who discusses with Michel the importance of planting diverse crops among the vines to keep the soil rich.

In Roanne, Léo has people queuing around the church square to buy from his Petite Cuisine catering truck. We detour to an apiary before watching Michel and César at a wine tasting and Marie-Pierre being congratulated on the décor at the hotel, which is kept clean by chambermaids who are as meticulous in their work as the chefs. We also look in on the cellars.

Back in the kitchen, Michel and César disagree about the spiciness of a kidney dish, with the former wanting to add white asparagus marinaded in passion fruit juice to take the edge off, while the latter worries this will add to the expense and cooking time of a dish the clients like as it is. It's here we see the generational shift, as founders Jean-Baptiste and Marie Troisgros (who came to Roanne in 1930) favoured the heavy sauces of classical French cuisine, while sons Pierre and Jean gave the menu a nouvelle cuisine tweak that earned a Michelin star in 1955. Yet, even though Pierre lived until 2020, by incorporating ideas picked up during his time in Japan, Michel departed from his father's trademark dishes in the same way that César and Léo have since gone in their own directions.

A splendidly intense service sequence follows, in which Michel gets testy with some of the younger assistants, as he tries to time his kidneys to go with the rest of an order and he ticks off a chef for putting too many snails in a single pan. The pressure is definitely on, but the methodical quietude is retained beneath the rattle of pots and pans and the barking of new orders.

Michel wanders out to talk to clients and is explaining how dishes are always in flux when a woman who has just been served her mushroom dish moves her plate with both hands to drop the hint that she would rather eat than listen to an anecdote about a Japanese woman's necklace inspiring the name of a merinque dessert. He visits a number of other tables and confides that the chefs like to meet the clients to establish a rapport and learn their likes and dislikes. One couple have just handed over control of their vineyard to their sons and Michel admits that he has great faith in César to maintain the business's quality and integrity. But he can't quite let go because he still enjoys creating new dishes himself, as he has spent his entire life learning an art that never stays still.

Meanwhile, sommelier Vermorel guides two women through the wines on their tasting menu, while a middle-aged woman embarrasses her family by requesting so many items from the cheese trolley. Proud parents introduce their young sons to the pleasures of fine dining and the waiter makes sure they understand everything on the menu and hopes they enjoy themselves.

Moving on to a younger couple, Michel explains how he had only opened Le Bois Sans Feuilles in 2017 (after two years of renovation work) because the family had only ever rented the premises in Roanne and he wanted to make a break from the past while giving César and Léo the space to take the first steps on their own journeys. He also reveals that daughter Marion runs the hotel side of the business, while Marie-Pierre oversees the entire operation to allow Michel and the boys to concentrate on cooking. It's a fascinating insight into the family history and his reasons for taking such an enormous risk with an established and respected restaurant (although he doesn't mention that Pierre was still alive at the time). And it's so typical of this director that the backstory comes in the closing scene, as past, present, and future meld together with Michel being justly proud of being part of a chain that also includes his older (an unreferenced) brother, Claude, and his son, Thomas, who are based in Rio de Janeiro.

Photographed with admirable discretion by James Bishop and with exceptional sound design by Jean-Paul Mugel and Charles Vallette Viallard, this is everything one would expect of a Frederick Wiseman documentary. In addition to conveying the atmosphere of the buildings and the surrounding countryside, he also captures the rapport and tensions between the Troisgros triumvirate. We see less of Léo, as he has his own establishment to run. But Wiseman makes sure we notice how much more laid back the regime is, even though it very much adheres to Troisgros standards. César also recedes into the background during the final quarter of this four-hour study, as Michel steals focus during the bustling service sequence and then hogs the limelight while gracing the clients with his presence.

Some of the diners seem uncomfortable about being on camera and sit rather stiffly to attention when Michel is holding court. However, Wiseman exploits their discomfort to emphasise the racial and social make-up of the clientele in much the same way that Mark Mylod does in The Menu (2022). Indeed, the kitchen scenes recall another recent foodie favourite, Trần Anh Hùng's The Taste of Things (2023). But Wiseman isn't interested in so-called `food porn', even though the camera clearly delights in everything from the colours and shapes of the vegetables in the farmers' market to the gloopiness of contents of mixing bowls and the finesse required to make dishes look both appetising and alluring.

While it's interesting to see how dedicated the Troisgros are to sourcing local ingredients, the `farm-to-table' scenes with the suppliers feel unusually stage-managed for a Wiseman film. They are really talking for the benefit of the viewers, as Michel, César, and Léo would already know all about the point they are making about their animals or produce. But this is a minor quibble with an intimate epic that would make the perfect sign-off for a film-maker who unflinching gaze has made us see ourselves for who we really are - whether we wanted to look or not!

NO TIME FOR GOODBYE.

During his two decades as a journalist in Hong Kong, Don Ng Hiu-Tung founded Asia's most successful crowdfunded news startup, FactWire. In 2015. however, he turned director with the short, Invisible. This has since been followed by One Bullet, Hostage, Ramp, Final Call (all 2018), Off Track (2020), Waterandland, Vote, The Pinch (all 2022), It's Not Over, Bittersweet, and 25 (all 2023), with a couple of titles earning awards at film festivals. Now based in Britain, Ng makes his feature debut with an exploration of the migrant experience, No Time For Goodbye.

Forced to leave her medical student boyfriend in a Hong Kong prison, Yasmin Leung (Tsz Wing Kitty Yu) has found accommodation on an artist friend's houseboat in London. She goes to the beach with her friend, in the hope her daughter will be on the next boat across the Channel and ends up hugging a stranger in the belief he's Ben, to whom she writes daily letters.

Having been separated from Lung, the young boy with whom he travelled, Bosco Chan (Yiu-Sing Lam) applies for asylum and is placed in a former military base while his claim is processed. He pals up with Dan (Joseph Ademola Adeyemo), who calms him down after he finds a staff member rifling through his things, and gets support from Paul Kong (Teddy Robin Kwan), who advises him on finding a job and exercising at the local boxing gym. Bosco also gets chatting to Yasmin after she's amused by his Cantonese swearing when he misses his bus.

Despite Dan lending him a suit, Bosco is told at his Home Office interview that he doesn't have enough evidence to make a successful claim. Yasmin is even more crushed when her letters to Ben are returned unopened because his family don't want her contacting him in case it makes his situation worse. They agree to meet up by the London Eye, with Bosco feeling slightly better after meeting Paul's granddaughter and joking with Dan about him being a target for National Geographic after visiting 11 countries en route from Eritrea. But the good feelings don't last long, as he misses the last bus and sleeps on the houseboat, where he discovers Yasmin's letters to Ben (and he realises that she won't reciprocate his growing affection). Moreover, by missing a curfew, Bosco finds himself under investigation for his activities in the capital and he has his weekly £8 allowance suspended.

Bosco and his Syrian friend, Tito (Leo Anand), get jobs at a backstreet car wash and Dan warns them that they will be in trouble if they get caught. But he's the one who is threatened with deportation to Rwanda and he curses having played by the rules. As the Angolan boss (Joaquim Gloria) discovers that Bosco is a mechanic, he gives him bonus money to fix customer cars and he can now afford more expensive food at the corner shop and can even give a pack of sandwiches to the man begging outside.

Having picnicked with Yasmin, Bosco gets to steer the houseboat when they take a trip down the river. She warns him to be careful about getting caught at the car wash, but his mood only improves after Paul tracks down Lung and his foster mother is happy for him to meet up with Bosco. Shortly afterwards, Dan is deported and the hostel worker who had searched Bosco's room tells flatmate John (Euan Alexander) about the car wash and he leads a raid with his gang of far-right thugs, who have been inspired by a Commons speech by Suella Braverman.

Bosco is arrested, but Tito testifies that he was just visiting and he is released. Paul is furious, however, and Yasmin has to move into the hostel after the boat's owner returns. Ben is also back in his room after the deportation flight was blocked by the courts and he chants with fellow residents on the rooftop that they are `refugees'.

Soon afterwards, Yasmin is informed that her appeal is likely to be rejected. She has a brief moment of happiness when her friend is reunited with her daughter, but she quarrels with Bosco after he admits having feelings for her and envying Ben because they're both in jail, but at least he has her love. Yasmin is so upset that she decides to leave and urges Bosco to follow her in seeking a new start. Distraught, he dials the voluntary return service before running to the pedestrian tunnel that reminds him of home and remembers Yasmin telling him about a mural of Icarus and the risks of flying too close to the sun.

One year later, Bosco gets news that he has been awarded refugee status as he is knocked out in the boxing ring. He calls his mother to tell her the news, but her dementia means that she doesn't recognise him and he sobs. Before he leaves the hostel, however, he writes on the wall that there is always a home where there is freedom.

Closing captions explain the British government's introduction of a scheme to allow those born in Hong Kong before the 1997 handover to try for asylum. However, only 74 out of over 200,000 applications have been successful and this stark fact makes Don Ng's film so worthwhile, poignant, and potent. It's good intentions aren't always backed up by compelling storytelling, particularly in the final reel, where melodramatic developments tumble in upon each other and undercut any social-realist objectives. Ng also tends to raise issues in passing without exploring them in much detail, which leaves too much room for sentimentality to seep into the action when trenchant discussion is required.

Despite these shortcomings, this offers astute insights into the isolation, frustration, and alienation felt by so many who leave their homelands to escape prejudice, persecution, and poverty. Yiu-Sing Lam impresses as Bosco, but it might have been useful to know more about his plight in Hong Kong. The same goes for Tsz Wing Kitty Yu's Yasmin, whose reasons for fleeing before Ben's arrest are not made clear. Their encounters with immigration officials are also skirted over, which dissipates the film's political tension. Nevertheless, S.K. Yip's cinematography is laudable, while production designer Eric Tong's comparison of the hostel rooms with the houseboat proves highly effective. As for Ng, he directs steadily, although his script could have been tighter, more detailed, and less emotive. It will be interesting to see what he does next, as his heart is very definitely in the right place and his message is timely and important.