Food elements in films are not always coincidental. Directors use them as powerful visual symbols to reveal characters’ inner worlds, foreshadow future disasters, or convey social messages. In this article, we will explore a few of them. The most famous, of course, are the oranges in “The Godfather” trilogy
- In Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece, every time an orange appears on screen, a tragedy or death inevitably follows. Don Vito Corleone is shot while buying oranges, oranges appear on Johnny Fontane’s manager’s desk, an orange is in front of Barzini at the meeting, and finally, Vito Corleone dies with orange peel in his mouth while playing with his grandson. Here, the orange symbolizes the dangerous nature of the mafia world, which may look sweet but ultimately turns bitter, as well as imminent death.
- Most of us are familiar with the red apple from the tale and animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This red apple is classically symbolized as the “apple of paradise”, meaning the forbidden fruit. In this Disney animated classic, the bright red apple offered to Snow White by her stepmother appears alluring and delicious on the outside, but is deadly and poisonous within. It highlights the deceptiveness of appearances and the disaster brought about by temptation.
- In Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film, the peach is not merely a delicious fruit, but a psychological weapon used by a poor family to corner the wealthy household’s maid and remove her from the “game.” The scene in which they skillfully exploit the maid’s peach allergy in an attempt to get her fired symbolizes the oppressive struggle between social classes, the targeting of vulnerabilities, and the transformation of fear into a tool of manipulation.
- In Pan's Labyrinth, although Ofelia is warned not to touch any food in the Pale Man’s room, where he sits at the banquet table, she cannot resist the two grapes on the table. The moment she puts a grape in her mouth, the monster awakens and destroys the fairies. Considered a symbol of abundance and pleasure in mythology, the grape here represents the defeat of a child’s innocence by momentary greed and the inevitable danger brought about by breaking a prohibition.
- In Children of Men, set in Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian world, the orange is deliberately used by the director as a harbinger of disaster. The characters play with an orange before Julian is killed in the car, and an orange also appears on the table before a massacre takes place at Jasper’s hideout. This is one of the clearest and most modern examples of how the orange has been perceived in cinema as a symbol of death after “The Godfather.”
During the colder months, stay close to both films and vitamins!