Welcome to 25 for 25 my project to watch and eat my way around the world in 2025 with 25 movies from 25 countries matched with 25 country themed dinners. Today’s entry is France but you can see the full Masterlist to watch and cook along with me 🙂
Country: France
Movie: Astérix & Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre
Director: Alain Chabat
Year: 2002
The Elevator Pitch: Cleopatra (who is inexplicable Monica Bellucci in this movie), tasks Edifis to build a palace in three months to win a bet against Julius Caesar in what I can only describe as a French fever dream ancient Spy Kids. Astreix and Obelix are also here.
How Was the Movie?: I actually do watch French movies a lot but generally it’s the awards circuit fare, art films, and from time to time I’ll watch a French horror movie but I was assured that this film was formative for everyone old enough to watch it when it came out in France so I wanted to see what those types of movies were about for a change.
I am only generally aware that Astreix and Obelix are comic book characters from Belgium so I had a good time trying to figure out what was happening in this film for children because I lacked all cultural context around the comics, French culture in the early 00s, and was missing the language puns (of which this movie is heavily dotted with). However, there is plenty to really like here. The movie does a great job introducing the title characters, many of the gags are genuinely funny, and about 90% of the run time I was convinced it was canonical that Astreix and Obelix were in an open poly situationship. With pretty good for the time special effects and a very fast pace this is a great movie for popcorn and a few laughs. Absolutely everyone is a fun character in this, it would be difficult to pick a favorite. I especially liked the way they did costuming and makeup so that it looked hyper un-real and very cartoon-like.
What was for Dinner?:
I wanted to make something provincial for dinner so I went with a simple poulet aux lentilles, aka chicken with lentils which was absolutely amazing and so simple to make. I was really worried that this dish wouldn’t have any flavor but the simple herbs and the taste of the stock really stand out. We also had Gateau aux Pommes which is a french style apple cake. I used some apple brandy in the cake as well to give it a sharp taste. The only issue is that I wish I had used a shallower pan since being this stout gave it very strange texture as a tall cake.
That’s it for France, see you next in Thailand!