The world of cinema represents a dimension in which it is easy to expose any history or problem. Of course, among the innumerable scripts that have been created, the kitchen is represented in many of them, especially in recent years. The choice of feature films that we propose below represents a very small part of all possible, but still your choice has not been the product of chance. Each of them demonstrates how the kitchen is able to be a powerful common bond between characters totally different from each other by character, beliefs, customs … The kitchen is transformed in each of these films into a kind of bridge to tell us about different stories, but all moved by the same passion.
Julie and Julia
As in all the films proposed, in this film gastronomy and passion for cooking forms the angular axis of the film, and the two main stories of this film are based on real events. Both show how the kitchen manages to awaken ambition in the life of two women from different eras, one in the 60s and the other at the beginning of the 21st century.
On the one hand, the life of Julia Child, a famous writer of recipes, tells us the process she experienced when changing her current housewife situation to dazzle herself as a culinary writer, and all thanks to her perseverance for learning to cook . Through life and the book that Julia published, our second protagonist sees how the kitchen serves as an escape route from a boring life dependent on her husband’s.
Perseverance, effort and a passion for cooking will help Julie and Julia achieve success.
In short, it is an entertaining feature film, with the brilliant performances of Meryl Streep and Amy Adams weaving two stories intertwined by the same theme, a perfect argument if you love the world of cooking.
Chocolat
The plot of this film transcends the mere fact of the creation of pastry recipes, talks about the potential and the properties of a product that captivates more than 90% of the population: chocolate. Vianne Rocher, the protagonist, has a special gift, she knows what the needs and concerns of each person and through this, uses the properties of chocolate to calm them down. Well, as a Mayan legend has it, the power of chocolate brings to light the different desires and desires of people.
Vianne’s understanding of this art, her morals and uncommon beliefs make both her and her daughter out of place in a people rooted in extreme Catholicism, a conservative and fearful community of the different and the non-standardized. The protagonist is presented as a woman out of the ordinary that will shake the foundations of a repressed and critical society with what she does not understand.
Although this film highlights a weight plot, with notes that go beyond simple culinary creativity, everything is transmitted and unfolded through the chocolate with images that will make us go almost without thinking to our pantry.
Without reservations
With more dramatic than humorous overtones this film transmits the difficulty of maintaining a family and professional conciliation in the kitchen of a prestigious restaurant. The protagonist, a prestigious Chef, is interrupted by her monotony due to the death of her sister in a car accident, a fact that will turn her overnight into the legal tutor of her niece.
The kitchen unfolds its wings to bring two people together, who, united by family ties, do not know each other. In this flight another character has a significant weight, the chef who substitutes the protagonist in the kitchen during his period of absence. Far from taking away the position, this character will use the love for the kitchen they have in common to teach the protagonist to go beyond the technique in the creation of dishes, to reach where very few do: feelings, memories and emotions that transmit the flavors. A teaching that will help you get closer to your niece to knit an almost maternal bond.
Ratatouille
Although it is a cartoon film, we could say that among the five proposals, this is the one that best conveys the enthusiasm for the kitchen, as well as the struggle and the effort to gain a place in the demanding culinary world. Of course, Disney Pixar does not abandon fantasy or irony as it is a rat the main character who later becomes a Chef.
Despite the animation, the Disney Pixar filmmakers get something really complicated: the creation of animations that resemble foods with a more than delicious appearance. The genius and success of the film in the culinary part is not only thanks to the creativity of its producers, it also lies in the field work that exists behind everything, as the animators had to attend cooking classes to understand the operation It houses a restaurant in its kitchen. And judging by the sequences of the film, they understood the concept perfectly, since the hustle and pressure to which the kitchen staff is subjected is very well appreciated, as well as the coordination and deep skill that a good Chef.
A trip of ten meters
Everything changes in a small town in the south of France when the Kadam family, of Indian origin, moves to live right in front of a luxurious French haute cuisine restaurant awarded with a Michelin star. The story centers on Hassan Kadam, one of the members of the family, who moved by his talent and desire to become an acclaimed chef begins to be interested in traditional French cuisine, but without forgetting the customs and traditions that he learned years ago. his mother.
With some touches of humor, this film talks about other issues apart from the kitchen itself, including the racist problematic and the conflict derived from the mixture of different cultures, although all of them are corrected when the diversity favors the development of the kitchen. Indian cuisine enters fully into the French and not just to stay, also to transform it.