A culinary comedy set in Hamburg, from director Fatih Akin (the excellent The Edge of Heaven). Winner of the Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival 2009.
Young restaurant owner Zinos (Adam Bousdoukos) is down on his luck. His girlfriend Nadine has moved to Shanghai, his Soul Kitchen customers are boycotting the new gourmet chef, and his blimmin' back is playing up. Things start looking up when hipsters embraces his revamped culinary concept, but that doesn't mend Zino's broken heart so he flies to China for Nadine, leaving the restaurant in the hands of his ex-con brother Illias (Moritz Bleibtreu).
Both decisions turn out disastrous: Illias gambles away the restaurant and Nadine is with another lover. The brothers have got to work together to get Soul Kitchen back...
Fatih Akin (The Edge of Heaven) is the new cool kid in German filmmaking but this is a departure from the trendy norm from him. Gone are the doom-laden romances and cultural alienation that brought him to the attention of festival audiences. In their place is an upbeat comedy about running a restaurant and, while it’s not a laugh riot, it has more than enough positives to recommend a viewing.
The locations and general production design reveal Hamburg in all its grimey, boho-chic glory – desolate yet stylish. Akin adding some new camera tricks to his normally naturalistic shooting style helps too. The soundtrack is fantastic, a great mix of hard rock and funk used in interesting ways. All this sets a great stage for a cast who deliver. While some of the characters – the cocky gangster, the pretentious chef – veer towards caricature, the actors milk them for all the humanity and lo-fi humour possible.
What really stops the film from kicking up a gear is the story itself. Akin’s previous work featured complex narratives but these have been jettisoned in favour of a more basic script to allow the comedy some room to breathe. He probably went too far in the direction of simplicity, with a few twists being easy to spot and an ending sequence that hinges too heavily on circumstance and falls flat because of it. Only a minor work from an extremely promising director.
By Andreas Heinemann, Flicks.co.nz
i laughed so much that i had to do a mental check if i had been drinking ,half way thru the film.not to be missed!
This a great comedy about a guy Zinos who has a restaurant and small base of loyal customers, until he hires a new chef. He totally revamps the place and puts the Soul back in the kitchen. After that is a bunch of stuff with his girlfriend Nadine, his brother coming out of prison, and the waitress his brother has fallen for. This is interesting and fun comedy, that will leave you wanting more
brill movie, full of character and comedy, laughs and loving. all in all a short film with some heart warming scenes that still have you rolling on the floor laughing. well done faith akin
Zinos (Adam Bousdoukos) is torn between two loves and both of them are breaking his heart.
A fine foodie German comedy. Yes, really.
There's screwball moments, warmth and heart in this kitchen - and the final result is somewhat of a crazy yet very digestible and insanely enjoyable mix.
It's not complete (the ending is rather weak) nor compelling, but it's still likeable enough as light entertainment.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 5th Aug 2010.
Release date: August 5th 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
