THE TRIP OF THE HUNDRED FEET – A new film report
Do you think you could believe that life is completely made of coincidences? Well, there is something to consider: THE HUNDRED FEET JOURNEY-a movie that I liked a lot- is a drama with comedy that could make you buy it. The film opens with a loving mother showing her son the mysterious subtleties of Indian cooking. He is quite young and talented. She gives him examples to taste and smell, and gives him a well-worn suitcase with compartments containing the exotic spices.
Some time later, the restaurant, which is owned by his family in Mumbai, India, is attacked and burned down. The protégé escapes with his father and his four little brothers. But his mother dies. By now the boy has grown to adulthood, Hassan Kadam, played by Manish Dayal, and has become a noted chef. His father, named Papa Kadam, is played by Om Puri. Determined to re-establish the restaurant in Europe, he leaves for England, only to discover that the climate there, both for his family and the type of plant-based food they need to cook, is not to their liking.
Now they all get into a broken down van and leave for France. I don’t think the father has a specific place in mind, but he is a man with a vision. I have known men like him: they go on with their lives, somehow feeling that they will get to some place where they will prosper. His sons lament his senses; However, when the brakes on his old truck fail and he must swerve off the road to avoid a fatal crash, the vision lives on.
Soon a young woman arrives and helps them take the van to a service location. Where are they? they don’t know Well…it turns out to be Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France; And while Dad is out working on the truck, he wanders through this quaint town and sees a FOR SALE sign… Long story short: he buys the property and the entire Kadam clan starts pitching in to get the place ready. to become a restaurant. Dad’s vision guides all action.
Interestingly, the lady who helped them first works as a sous-chef in the place that is a hundred feet from where their new restaurant is. She’s Marguerite, played by Charlotte Le Bon, and she and Hassan bond as foodies. Even though she sees him as her ‘competitor-opponent’, she agrees to give him culinary tomes on French cuisine, which he devours with fascinating zeal.
Indeed, the film becomes a story of rivals, not only of restaurants but also of the owners of those two restaurants: one -the French one–Le Saule Pleureur (in English, The Weeping Willow) is run devotedly by Madame Mallory – performed by Helen Mirren- and the one-Restaurant Mumbai-directed by Papa Kadam. Surely you can imagine what happens when the Michelin-starred restaurant, providing first-class cuisine to a community of people with French palates, is faced with a garishly lit restaurant that is aggressively seeking new customers and begins serving up great-tasting dishes. . .
One more coincidence occurs as follows: both owners turn out to be a widower and a widow. And although vicious fights break out between them, there is an incident that pushes them towards a new respect. These two actors are great. Papa Kadam has an inner strength and poise that seems genuine. Madame Mallory does a great curmudgeonly job playing a no-nonsense, strict restaurateur. She never smiles, constantly scolds; and I gradually speculated that The Weeping WILLOW might be code for WIDOW: that her humorless demeanor was there to hide her mourning for her late husband.
Now, along with Dad’s problem of not letting his newborn restaurant out of his life, he wants his son, Hassan, to show the world that he’s just as good a chef as anyone else. Coincidence plays a role here as Hassan is given the opportunity to advance a hundred feet to become Madame’s chef, thanks to some prep advice from his friend Marguerite. And very soon he arrives in Paris where he is world acclaimed. (“Wait! Where are we going?”) This stint in Paris stretches out a bit, but he’s there to show her where his allegiances lie, and helps bring his character to a maturity that attracts the close ties of the.
Both Hassan and Marguerite make a great union of young people who don’t need nude scenes to express how they really feel. There’s a scene where they’re tasting and sharing spices, and I thought it was a new way of showing love. Sometimes a metaphor achieves much more effect than an “in your face” love scene.
The director of this special film was Lasse Hallstrom. He led the actors here like a good jockey takes the right horses and guided them to victorious victories in every scene I saw. The script was by Steven Knight, and his dialogue and sequence delighted me throughout the entire film. The background music had a life-giving message, created by AR Rahman, who has recently been called the most prominent and prolific film composer. Linus Sandgren served as the film’s photographer; and the scenes of him have a vigor that synchronizes with the plot.
But the primary impression I had on seeing THE HUNDRED FEET JOURNEY it was a continuous affection for each scene and feeling in each one the extraordinary experience of people striving to connect their lives with each other in a strong and positive way. It puts my EIGHT.
What gives my rating:
8.) “As good as it could be.”
7.) “That little bit of excellence is missing.”
6.) “Somehow it just didn’t work right.”
5.) “I have to feel bad about it.”
4.) “Everything works and nothing to show for it.”