The Hundred-Foot Journey

Just like the many fine meals that are displayed during the course of The Hundred-Foot Journey, this is a movie that is to be savored.  It is fortunate that director Lasse Hallstrom allows us to do so.  This is a movie about characters who grow and change, not out of contrivance or plot convenience, but because of necessity.  There is a flow to the story that transcends the traditional three-act structure, and instead allows us to get lost in the story and the lives of the people who inhabit it.

This is an utterly delightful film, one of the brightest I have seen so far this year.  It is cheerful, sweet and intelligently subtle.  Its central character is Hassan (Manish Dayal), the eldest son of an Indian family who ran a family business restaurant, until tragedy struck, and they lost everything including the restaurant.  The tragedy also took Hassan's mother, but she was able to teach him enough about cooking that he can carry on her legacy.  Hassan and his family lived in London for a while, but weren't able to make ends meet, so they are now trying their luck in a small village in France as the film opens.  Hassan's father (Om Puri) wants to open a new restaurant in this village - he says that the spirit of his wife wants him to start a new business in this location.  The rest of the family is against the idea.  Not only are the locals not accustomed to Indian food, but the location for the restaurant that his father has picked out is directly across the street from a Michelin star-rated fine restaurant that serves gourmet French cuisine.

The owner of the rival restaurant just a hundred feet away is Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren) is not amused by her competition.  She is a strict hand in her kitchen, and believes in a certain order to things, and that order is disrupted when Hassan's father starts blasting Indian pop music from his restaurant across the way.  A small war breaks out between the two restaurants, with Mallory and the father both trying to get the upper hand in attracting customers, and even at the food market where they shop for ingredients each morning.  Meanwhile, Hassan strikes up a sweet relationship with the sous chef at Mallory's restaurant, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon).  Through their secret meetings, he learns not only how to improve his own dishes, but also studies the art of French cuisine.  It's at this point that we think the movie is going to follow a predictable path, and while it certainly does up to a point, there are some surprises in store, and we really begin to feel close to these people.

The Hundred-Foot Journey unfolds at a steady pace, allowing all of its characters to grow and change.  The changes come from their interactions and the time they spend together, not through plot developments or contrivances.  This is a sentimental movie, but it is a smart film at the same time.  It wins the audience over through subtlety and character development, rather than forced emotion.  There's no scene where the music swells, telling us how we're supposed to see.  What Hallstrom does is allow his camera to linger on his actors, so that we can watch their subtle changes in both their character, and their behavior toward each other.  Just watch the scene where Madame Mallory tries an omelet that Hassan has prepared for her.  Even though she is shot from behind, we can still perfectly sense what she is thinking and feeling.  This is a movie that trusts us enough to understand the actors and their performances, rather than spelling everything out in the dialogue.

This is a surprising movie in a lot of ways.  Even though I knew that some of these characters were destined to get together by the end of the film, I was surprised that the screenplay allows these characters to actually spend time and gradually enjoy each other's company, rather than the screenplay forcing them together because it is expected.  I liked the way that Hassan's father would try to draw up business for the restaurant by having his daughter dress up in traditional Indian garb, even though it embarrasses her.  I was mostly surprised by the subtlety of the film.  There is not a single moment that seems heavy handed.  Every emotion seems small and natural, and nobody is acting for the cameras.  Part of the charm of the film is that we see these people as actually existing, and we kind of wish that they did, because we enjoy the time we spend watching them.

This is the rare film that you want to tell people to see as soon as you're done watching it.  That's something that hasn't happened in a long time for me.  This is simply a fantastic and sweet movie that not only has nothing to offend, but it's also intelligent and simple.  What a joyful experience, and what a wonderful film.

See related merchandise at Amazon.com!

0 comments