A zesty paean of praise to the greater glories of garlic. This lip-smacking foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and culinary/curative powers of the stinking rose features chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, and a flavorful musical soundtrack.

The SF Chronicle called this loving ode to garlic “a joyous, nose-tweaking, ear-tingling, mouth-watering tribute to a Life Force.” Nothing less than a hymn to the stinking rose of the kitchen, this beautifully photographed documentary is an odyssey of garlic feasts blended with uniquely individual interviews of garlic aficionados. Not only does the film promote garlic as our first line of defense against all forms of blandness, it also titillates the taste buds with shots of garlic dishes sizzling in their pans. Les Blank shows once again that he knows how to have a good time and share it on film – especially if it involves food!

At the end of 2004 ‘Garlic’ was one of 25 films, selected by The Library Of Congress, to be added to the National Film Registry list of now 400 motion pictures, to be preserved in perpetuity. Les’s film with Chris Strachwitz, Chulas Fronteras was selected previously for this prestigious collection. (Only two other documentarians, Frederick Wiseman and Albert Maysles, have as many non-fiction films represented in the registry.)

A film by Les Blank with Maureen Gosling
51 minutes
1980