Soul Kitchen, 2009

Soul Kitchen, 2009
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast:Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu, Birol Ünel



Soul Kitchen synopsis: In Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.

Tagline for this one: "Leben ist, was passiert, waehrend du dabei bist, andere Plaene zu machen" (Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.)


Preps: I wanted to see this as a part of my selection on Liffe, the movie festival in Ljubljana. However, since I bought really a huge amount of movie tickets, this one remained unseen, I was probably too tired to see it. However, I have wanted to do this since last November and finally it has arrived as a part of regular schedule of the movies. Theatre Dvor usually has a selection of fine movies that are still a virgin towards Hollywood things you can see in other theatres. Therefore, a big bow to the movie and in I went.


Reality: It's a mixture of everything. A greek brother-led restaurant somewhere in the middle of nowhere - in my opinion at least. If I was taught in the university, that for a success of a restaurant (or a pub, coffee shop, etc), three L's are responsible - Location, location, location, in this movie, the location is somewhere on the railroad station (or so it seems) and breaks everything you thought you knew about the economy. At least in the first third of the movie. However, in the second and the third part, you see, that another "law" of economy is really worth paying attention to - word of mouth marketing. After a night with new people from the neighbourhood, which bring new and new customers, the place "Soul kitchen" is full.

Of course, also the quality of the things you offer, counts. The owner is persuaded by his new chef, that also the food has to be carefully selected and presented to the customers, and it turns out that he was right.

As a mixture of everything, a serbian soup, it seems, the movie, as I am watching it. The set of funny scenes rocks my stomach in laughter. The owner, running around with a serious injury of his back, or his brother, just going out of the prison every day and returning in the night, the band, that finds a new place to practice inside the restaurant, Zinos freaking out on a funeral and hitting a chinese small boyfriend of his ex.. and my favourite - the erotic effect of a desert that is served for a dinner at one point, that turns everyone into wild animals and the place into the orgy-house.. well, these are some highlights of the movie I saw. A different and inspiring piece, a plus is also that it's in german language. Refreshing and very unpredictable.


My personal rating: 7,0 (a cute Sunday thing I think most of you might fancy seeing. Like you eat fish sometimes on Sunday, instead of mashed potatoes with Wienerschnitzel and sauce).


Soul Kitchen on IMDB
Official sites

Dorian Gray, 2009

Dorian Gray, 2009
Director: Oliver Parker
Cast: Colin Firth, Ben Barnes, Rebecca Hall



Stage: Home theatre, home cosiness

Dorian in short: A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.


Preps: Dorian Gray was a notorious high school reading, we had it at our degree exam. At that point it was something I couldn't fully understand. I figured if I read it again like 10 or 20 years after, it would be a totally different experience. Well, this is an opportunity to see it live. And think how I imagined it at my teen age.



Reality: Dorian is in a way just as I pictured it. It carefully follows the story I remember and shows a remarkable flip over a picture and a young man, trading his soul for youth image, to go continuously in the future as it was, depicted in his 20-ties. While being young, Dorian nurtures his life and experiences all possible pleasures or assumed pleasures. However, pleasures at that point in history represented mostly indulging women, drugs and drinking. We cannot tell where he got his experience, poetry, reading, since it seems he's doing nothing to upgrade that aspect of his life.

The price is vigorous.. the picture gets old instead of him and in some masohistic kind of way, Dorian watches his corrupted soul (that is represented on the picture) over and over again and tortures himself while looking at it. And in the mean time he treads on people he knows and loves. To spare his soul at any price.

In the english dark way, the payment day comes and is encrypted into a love he finally meets, but has to give away for the sake of good and what's right to do. In my opinion, a very good live version of the book. Still, I am glad I read it.. and I see a different meaning in all of this.. at the teen-understanding, I envied the man for keeping his youth and wanted to figure a way to do it myself :) Now it's a whole different story. I want to keep my soul and who I am, the virtues I have grown now and things I believe in now. Not the youth. It's not important. However, soul is.

My personal rating: 8,0 (an extremely good version of the classic Wilde book. Plus you will enjoy the good dialogue and witty remarks. Dorian is really brilliant, not only young and good looking)


Gray on IMDB