Over 100 years ago, on September 20, 1920, the Princeton Garden Theater in Princeton New Jersey opened to the public. Since that time this theater has been a landmark in Princeton on Nassau Street for all movie goers. Almost 100 years later in March 2020, this great theater closed due to the world wide Covid-19 Pandemic and many thousands of us who have walked the streets of Princeton New Jersey wondered if it would ever open again. On June 4, 2021 the Princeton Garden theater opened again and I when I watched the new movie “The Truffle Hunters” there today, it was almost as if no time had passed. All people who live in the Princeton area are very happy that this theater is reopened. According to the owners, what saved this business was the many donations made by the people who have supported this movie theater for the last 100 years. Over 100 years ago, on September 20, 1920, the Princeton Garden Theater in Princeton New Jersey opened to the public. Since that time this theater has been a landmark in Princeton on Nassau Street for all movie goers. Almost 100 years later in March 2020, this great theater closed due to the world wide Covid-19 Pandemic and many thousands of us who have walked the streets of Princeton New Jersey wondered if it would ever open again.

On June 4, 2021 the Princeton Garden theater did open again and when I watched the new movie “The Truffle Hunters” there today, it was almost as if no time had passed. All people who live in the Princeton area are very happy that this theater is reopened and hopefully will never close again. According to the owners, what saved this business was the many donations made by the patrons who have supported this movie theater for the last 100 years.

The Truffle Hunters is a foreign documentary from Italy with subtitles and is about the precarious business of using dogs to smell out and then dig for Truffle’s in the remote forests of Italy. Without the use of dogs, it would be close to impossible find truffles because they are so hard to find, mainly because you have to dig for them underground. This is a big business in Italy and the people who make the money are the few at the top of the food chain, not the hard working men who search with their dogs for days trying to make a meager living. Most disturbing is the practice of competing truffle hunters trying to poison the dogs who are trying smell and then dig for truffles.

Despite the very high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes of 97% I thought that this movie was unnecessarily long and a bit too boring in too many areas – mainly because there is just so much you can say about finding and selling Truffles. I give The Truffle Hunters a marginal 75% recommendation.