The Hundred-Foot Journey   3.5***

      Some directors have a unique patience for place and story. They allow the story to unfold onscreen naturally, never or at least rarely forcing the action, trusting  the film to develop its own richness. Few directors possess such patience and trust. Lasse Halstrom is such a director. ( “Chocolat”, “Cider House Rules”, “Salmon Fishing in Yemen”  )

The story:  In a small French village  there is a renown French restaurant  presided over by the iron-willed widow and chef Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). Across the street ( in fact 100 feet away…thus the movie title) is an abandoned and dilapidated restaurant building of a former competitor. When an Indian family of restaurateurs, led by a strong-minded patriarch Papa Kaddam ( Om Puri), end up by chance in the village,  Papa  takes an interest in the vacant property and decides to open a new Indian restaurant. At first Madame Mallory is somewhat distressed but then remembers that after all Presidents have dined in her classical French establishment and too the village is probably not ready for the exotic spices, smells and sounds of the new Mumbai Maison restaurant. However, she doesn’t reckon with  Papa’s son Hassan being a tremendously talented but untrained chef. There are some funny scenes as we are shown the battle of wits and dirty tricks that takes place between the two restaurant owners.

In this film, food is beautifully cooked, presented, appreciated and loved with passions seldom present in others films of a similar genre. We are not only shown everyday meals prepared and enjoyed but also the precise planning and execution of a menu for those whose palate demands the best and at exquisite levels most of us can't even imagine. You can almost feel the texture and the smell of the food and you will  marvel at the degree and type of cooking skills a good chef must employ to create their masterpieces.

Yes, food is at the core of the film, but it's the combination of personalities, traditions, and  misunderstandings that give the movie its charms. Old clashes with new, and that which is new is scary and intimidating but very rewarding once the best there is to offer is embraced.

Clark

PS: The movie could also be described as the best of Hollywood meets the best of Bollywood ( the Indian actors are all famous “Bollywood’ film stars in India )