![]() The Indians establish their restaurant in what is as clearly a southern French farm building, yet nothing is done with the contrast between bourgeois cooking that has become detached from the basic country cooking that would have taken place in that farmhouse and that has always been at the basis of the greatest French haute cuisine. Mirren's upscale French restaurant is in a typical 19th-century bourgeois villa. There were also things implied in the movie that never got developed. Mallory who gives Hassan the cook book, not Marguerite - etc.) There were times when you could see the next step too far in advance. ![]() But she is never developed as a character in the novel, does not play any significant role in Hassan's development as a chef - it is Mme. The novel does mention, largely in passing, that Hassan becomes romantically involved with the sous-chef, Marguerite. (Almost the entire subplot dealing with Hassan and Marguerite is also new with the movie and not in the novel. There are times when the movie reminded me of Ratatouille - the in-kitchen rivalry between sous-chefs, for example. (This is one of the many important scenes that are new with the movie and have no equivalent of the novel.) The characters are not caricatures, in other words. But when that restaurant is attacked by racists with cries of "France for the French," part of the current Nationalist discourse, she fires the person she believes to have been involved in it and publicly washes away the Nationalist graffiti sprayed at the entrance to the Indian restaurant. She does not hesitate to try to ruin the opening of the rival, Indian restaurant. She also has certain important French Republican values that make her a more interesting character. She grows to appreciate what Indian cuisine can add to classical French cuisine. ![]() The head of the haute gamme traditional French restaurant located in the same small French town, played by Helen Mirren, doesn't just fall in love with Indian cooking, as you would expect to happen on a made-for-TV movie about this topic. ![]() It's a standard story of a clash between two cultures, French and Indian cooking in this case, but rather than just playing it out as that, we see the young Indian chef take an interest in French haute cuisine and experiment with how he can mix one with the other. I can't believe no has has reviewed this already. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |