An army marches on its stomach. But food plays a different role in war film The Tasters (in cinemas 13 March), set as the tide of the Second World War started to turn against Germany.
The film follows Rosa, who in 1943 leaves Berlin to stay with her parents-in-law in Parcz, Prussia. Sustenance is scarce, but Rosa finds a meal ticket – with a catch. Rounded up by the SS, along with six other young women, she is taken to what turns out to be the ‘Wolf’s Lair’ – Adolf Hitler’s eastern front HQ.
The women are presented with a hearty meal, which they enjoy… before finding out they are guinea pigs, testing the paranoid Führer’s meals for poison. It’s tense viewing, especially when the second meal is served.
Hitler’s chef is touchingly proud of his vegetarian work, serving up the likes of pea soup “with a hint of mint”, chickpea salad with marinated zucchini, and something called “cabbage fantasy”, alongside various fruit-based cakes.
The dramatic tension of the tasting inevitably fades as various sub-plots develop – but the film serves up more than one puking incident to keep viewers on their toes.
A rare female-focused war story, it’s a fascinating glimpse into life inside a Nazi stronghold. Or is it? The film is based on At the Wolf’s Table, a historical fiction novel inspired by the story of Margot Wölk – who told it in 2012 at the age of 95, claiming all her colleagues were shot by the Red Army.
That there is little in the way of corroborating evidence rather takes the edge off this otherwise gripping tale.
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