STEAK (R)EVOLUTION (Franck Ribière).110 minutes. Opens Friday (August 7). See listings. Rating: NNN
Where to watch: iTunes
Steak (R)evolution is ostensibly about French filmmaker Franck Ribière’s quest to find the perfect steak.
Really, it’s more of a state-of-the-artisan travelogue in which Ribière wanders the world interviewing cattle farmers and chefs about their passion. Local stops include Montreal for a meal at Joe Beef and Toronto for an interview with author Mark Schatzker, whose book Steak has clearly been an inspiration.
Ribière is not an ideal documentarian: he doesn’t stick to the structure he sets out for the project, and there are enough little technical flaws to make you wish he’d hired someone else to direct. (I suspect his partner, writer/producer Vérane Frédiani, is the reason this project exists at all.)
That said, Steak (R)evolution talks to interesting people and follows a few worthy threads. It’s commendable, for instance, that Ribière spends as much time on the care his farmers take with their cattle as he does on the product those animals will eventually become. And yes, if you’re a carnivore, you will almost certainly drool on yourself at some point. Some subtitles.
