Touch of Spice

Colour, 35 mm
Greece, 2003, 108 min
Section: Variety Critics´ Choice

Synopsis

Tasty production values and accessible, colorful subject matter elevate food movie A Touch of Spice to a plat du jour in the Greek cinema menu. Using cuisine as a metaphor for national identity and personal feelings, bittersweet pic about a man, Fanis (George Corraface), torn between his ethnicity (Greek) and the country of his birth (Turkey) makes its points lightly and entertainingly. Structured as a long flashback as a group of the protag´s old friends arrive from Istanbul for a welcome meal, the story, like any Greco-Turkish meal, is divided into three segs - Appetizers (Istanbul, 1959), Main Courses (Athens, 1964) and Desserts (the present day). It´s the players, both kids and adults, who give the movie its character, especially Tassos Bandis´ philosophical old grandfather.

Derek Elley