"Please, sir, I want some more." Who has heard Mark Lester make that pitiful plea in and not felt a tugging at their heartstrings?
Still, it would take much more than the sight of the gruel in Carol Reed's 1968 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' to get my stomach growling. I didn't even feel hungry when viewing , Gereon Wetzel's documentary about Ferran Adrià and his multinational team of hard-working and talented chefs.
That said, some films should carry the warning: do not view on an empty stomach. But rather than food documentaries, certain dramas and comedies have got me running out of cinemas and into restaurants over the years.
One of my earliest memories of loving a film but wanting so badly for it to end so I could go and satisfy my hunger pangs was . The 1987 Oscar-winning drama sees a French refugee decide to repay two elderly Danish sisters' kindness by preparing their bible group the feast of a lifetime.
Another film that made me ravenous was , Ang Lee's zesty romantic comedy-drama about a retired chef - and father of three grown-up daughters - who has lost his sense of taste but still likes to cook complex, multicourse meals.
Sometimes, even humble cuisine can inspire a craving to consume. I think here of the bowl of topped with a fried egg and onions served up in Stephen Chow Sing-chi and Lee Lik-chi's , or the minced pork and scallion dumplings that writer-director Liu Jiayin and her parents spend the bulk of preparing. They are all dishes that, even as I recall the scenes, make me hungry again.