It's rare that a cooking movie would give me goosebumps like this one did. When a foreign restaurant encroaches on your soil and starts stealing your customers, well, that is war, isn't it? Plot
A family from India relocates to France and opens a restaurant next to a renowned establishment serving French gourmet cuisine. The restaurant owners begin a fierce professional competition.
This is a 2014 movie directed by Lasse Halströme and written by Steven Knight, who was adapted by Richard C. Morais. The story is written to jumble with your emotions by having a comic yet tense atmosphere with a certain culinary thrill and a touch of love.
Hassan Haji, played by Manish Dayal, is an Indian chef with raw cooking talent. When he and his family were displaced from India, they moved to a small village in France to set up a restaurant. However, Madam Mallory, played by Helen Mirren, is the owner of another restaurant just 100ft across and she strongly objects. This brings about a strong rivalry between the two establishments, until Madam Mallory's chefs take it too far and commit arson, injuring Hassan. Mallory realizes how wrong she has been about her Indian neighbors and tries to make things right with the Kadam family. Hassan received her hand out for help by asking her to take him under her wing.
Source|| rollingstone.com
The main love interest in this story is the romance between Hassan and Marguerite who is played by Charlotte Le Bon. Marguerite is a sous chef at Madam Mallory's restaurant. Marguerite and Hassan met at the market. From their conversation, Hassan observed she was a cook and asked if she had any tips for him. She then gave him a cookbook with traditional French recipes. When studying the book and asking for tips, the feelings they had for each other blossomed. When Hassan joins Madam Mallory's staff and his culinary talents help him progress quickly, also earning the restaurant a second Michelin star and making him the star of the restaurant, this makes Marguerite jealous of him, thus giving their romance an edgy feel. They broke up when Hassan left for Paris. He invited her, but she declines, stating that she wants to stay in the Alps where she was raised. Although she did later come to Paris at the end of the movie to meet Hassan in his own restaurant.
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There are many things I liked about this movie, from the magical scene of Hassan making an omelette for Madam Mallory, making something ordinary taste extra ordinary due to his culinary prowess, to the dramatic tension when Madam Mallory was waiting for the call to see if her restaurant would get a Michigan star. What I liked the most, though, is the intent behind this story, for a Hundred Foot Journey describes how a hundred feet between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can show the chasm between different cultures and dreams. This is a show like no other. Check it now.
Source|| wikipedia.com