FATIH AKIN
Germany,
2009, 99 minutes, Color, film's website
Turkish-German director Fatih Akin’s hectic comedy follows Greek brothers Zinos and Illias, who operate a restaurant in a converted warehouse in a rundown area of Hamburg. Soul Kitchen combines good food, a thumping soundtrack of great soul music, friendship, sex, and some very funny scenes.
Zinos Kazantzakis (Adam Bousdoukos) runs Soul Kitchen, a vast warehouse diner where the food might be spectacularly bad, but it’s edible. The sour-faced tax collector shows up, and, in a bid to save the restaurant, Zinos hires the city’s biggest rock-star chef. The chef whips up wonders from the most humble ingredients, shocking the regulars and seducing a whole new clientele. And once he slips some Peruvian tree-bark aphrodisiac into the dessert, everything changes.
This is a departure from Akin’s previous works, the award-winning Head-On and The Edge of Heaven (Filmfest DC 2008), which dealt with much more serious themes, but it indicates that this talented young director is capable of bringing depth and insight to films of markedly differing styles. Above all, Soul Kitchen is casually cool and loads of fun to watch. It is tremendously entertaining and won a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
In German with English subtitles
Closing night. Followed by a party at Bar Louie. $20.00
Turkish-German director Fatih Akin’s hectic comedy follows Greek brothers Zinos and Illias, who operate a restaurant in a converted warehouse in a rundown area of Hamburg. Soul Kitchen combines good food, a thumping soundtrack of great soul music, friendship, sex, and some very funny scenes.