This Was The Hardest Part Of Filming No Reservations
Though having a job like Anthony Bourdain may have sounded like a dream, it was actually quite hard. Just how difficult and heartbreaking it could be became incredibly clear for viewers in the recently released documentary about his life, "Roadrunner." In the film, Oscar-winner and director Morgan Neville spoke to some of Bourdain's closest friends and family and in those conversations, he learned about the hardest part of filming "No Reservations."
In many episodes of the series, the food expert and his crew placed themselves squarely among difficult situations and political fallout to educate viewers on what locals endure. Of course, things rarely went smoothly since they wanted to show the reality of many countries. Instead, chaos often ensued. While they put themselves in danger more often than not, that actually wasn't the hardest part of filming the show. Bourdain and the crew always found a way out, but they couldn't help those that were suffering.
The hardest part was watching human nature take over
Though there are several examples of this in "Roadrunner," one stands out in particular. Bourdain and the crew went to Haiti in 2006 to film an episode of his hit series, and found people that were starving because they had no income to buy food. So after filming at a restaurant, Bourdain had the crew purchase all of the food at the restaurant to give away to those that were standing around and begging. However, this incredibly kind gesture soon descended into turmoil.
In "Roadrunner" footage Bourdain explained that everyone was starving, so the bigger kids would shove the smaller kids out of line and eventually the adults would push the bigger kids away too. Everyone was so hungry that the scene devolved into a riot that resembled something from "Lord of the Flies." The hardest part of filming "No Reservations" was that Bourdain could only observe the despair and devastation that existed in the places he visited.