MIFF NOTES: City of Gold (2015, Dir. Laura Gabbert)

I slipped City of Gold into my MIFF schedule after my previously scheduled film was slated on first screening. I'm glad I did. The film, which tracks the impact of Pulitzer Prize winning Los Angeles Times food critic (and festival guest) Jonathan Gold, is a thrilling intersection of food, criticism and cultural expression. That may sound obvious (to some) given the premise of the film, but not having experienced Gold's singular brand of analysis before, I was floored by the incisiveness of his thought and the depth of his hunger for experience.

Gold himself is a fascinating character, so watching how he fell into food writing via L.A. punk and hip hop, is never less than entertaining. Add to this his evocative use of language and the film (and the city) takes on an adventurous shimmer.

It is an egalitarian experience (with Gold's penchant for secret strip mall kitchens bringing simmering variety), and one that he invites his readers into with his wafting enthusiasm for tastes from hagfish to hotdogs, seafood tacos to braised deer penis. That diversity spreads from the plate to city itself, with Gold's punchy prose vaulting L.A.'s multiculturalism into a city-binding philosophy.

It's probably overreach to say that Gold's work built that culture alone but there's no doubting his particular combination of place, taste and expression guided the mindset of food culture in L.A. (and beyond) past its hatted, tableclothed snootiness and opened the city up to the festival of flavours trapped just under the surface.

Laura Gabbert's film takes all these ideas and breathes life into them with Gold as her guide. Refreshingly, she opts for verbal description instead of glossy food-porn visuals. Like Gold, Gabbert ties her focus to more than the food - the families, the histories, and L.A.'s geography flavour her film every bit as much as the dishes themselves. Gold, of course, is the cherry on top, or perhaps better, the salt that enhances the taste.

Few films have ever had me hankering to visit L.A. In fact, I'm struggling to think of even one. Yet, seeing it through Gold's ravenous eyes, my interest is piqued. To those who are already trapped in the thrall of the City of Angels, City of Gold will no doubt more than satisfy.

★★★☆

Trailer:

City of Gold screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2015.