The Cook (2014)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The chef |
| Country of production | Germany , Switzerland , India |
| original language | German , English , Tamil |
| Publishing year | 2014 |
| length | 106 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ralf Huettner |
| script | Ruth Toma |
| production | Sonja Ewers, Ulf Israel, Peter Nadermann, Helge Sasse , Anne Walser |
| camera | Thomas Wildner |
| cut | Kai Schröter |
| occupation | |
| |
The chef is a German - Swiss - Indian film adaptation of the novel of the same by Martin Suter from the year 2013. Directed by Ralf Huettner are Hamza Jeetooa , Jessica Schwarz and Hans Peter Müller seen in the lead roles.
action
Maravan, a charming young immigrants from Sri Lanka, has been working since the death of his parents in the Sri Lankan civil war in Zurich as a kitchen assistant in a local star, but dreams of a restaurant. He would like to combine traditional Indian cuisine , as taught by his great-aunt, with avant-garde molecular cuisine . His motto is "Cooking is transforming": cold into warm, hard into soft, sour into sweet. It turns out that his creations have a strong aphrodisiac effect: when he casually invites his colleague Andrea to dinner, she seduces him after dinner, even though she is a lesbian and although he is very conservative and thinks arranged marriages are right. The two raise the joint catering service Love Food , with which they bring new life to the love life of sexually therapeutically treated couples.
Since Maravan needs money for the terminally ill great aunt, the catering company turns to the milieu of sex for sale. Andrea's companion Makeda, who works for an escort service , makes the contacts. Business is booming and money is pouring into Maravan's pocket. Meanwhile, Maravan's nephew Ulagu returns to his homeland and is recruited by the Tamil guerrilla fighters Tamil Tigers . Maravan fails to save him; Ulagu dies from a weapon that the dubious businessman Dalmann - a customer of the catering service - could have delivered to the crisis area.
When Maravan's great-aunt dies too, Maravan decides to stop cooking for Love Food . During one of the last meals that he prepares for Dalmann and Andrea's girlfriend, he ensures that Dalmann, who has a heart condition, dies from medication mixed with his drink. Andrea and Makeda get together and Maravan can turn to the tender Sandana, with whom a marriage was arranged for him, but who had initially let him down.
production
The film was shot in Cologne, Zurich and Mumbai. It was produced by Senator Film , C-Films AG and Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion . Senator Film is also the distribution company.
Reviews
“There have been several attempts to adapt Martin Suter's world bestsellers for the big screen as well. But neither Alain Gsponer with " Lila, Lila " (120,000 visitors) nor Bruno Chiche with " Small World " (150,000 spectators) really wanted to succeed. Now Ralf Huettner (" Vincent wants Meer ") , who was just as experienced as he was used to success, was faced with the difficult task of filming Suter's complex work "The Cook". [...] The fact that there is still a thick double happy ending at the finale can only be beneficial from a commercial point of view for this Suter adaptation (another one is being prepared with " The Dark Side of the Moon "). "
“Unfortunately, this story is not really convincing and is actually a bit conservative due to the lack of passion. As if to compensate for it, Ralf Huettner works with an extra portion of kitsch at the end, which is more pathetic than truly touching. It is obvious what “Der Koch” is trying to do and just as obvious why the film fails. While individual characters quickly become likeable, their relationships remain strangely disembodied and distant. Warmth, love and passion are named verbally, but cannot be experienced by the audience through the staging. Especially when it comes to erotic cuisine, this diminishes the credibility of the screen play and ultimately the enthusiasm for this film. "
“A portion of kitchen philosophy, a splash of eroticism, a pinch of political thriller and a tablespoon of family saga, seasoned with a bit of comedy: That should be the recipe for success for the film adaptation of“ The Cook ”. [...] In contrast to the novelist, the filmmakers only partially succeed in making the supposedly erotic kitchen work appear more sensual than a job in the chemistry laboratory. […] So the effect of the cinematic menu, prepared with the help of SRF in a Swiss-German production kitchen with perhaps too many cooks at work, evaporates quickly despite some entertaining moments. The virtuoso, sensual interweaving of culinary art, biography and politics, which characterizes possible models such as " Cinnamon and Coriander " (2003), does not do it. "
“Nevertheless, it is not really possible to see where the film is going with its themes. Cinematographer Thomas Wildner finds pictures that are appealing, but not too glossy, for Maravan's culinary arts, and Hamza Jeetooa interprets his role in a pleasantly reserved manner. However, the many secondary strands of the plot - including the serious illness of Maravan's grandmother, his long unfulfilled love for Sandana and his nephew's commitment to the Tamil Tigers - as well as the depiction of the political background have too little space to develop credibly. "
Web links
- The cook in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Pictures of the film on tvspielfilm.de