Soul Kitchen [Blu-ray]

Fans of Fatih Akin should race to see 'Soul Kitchen'
If you're a fan of the German-born (of Turkish heritage) filmmaker, Fatih Akin, you will - like me - run not walk to see his latest creation, 'Soul Kitchen'. Akin's masterpiece is, of course, the unsurpassed Head-On [Gegen die Wand] - one of the best five movies you'll ever see. His Edge of Heaven comes very close to repeating that magic. Fans of Akin know that in those two works he delves deeply into Germany's rich and widening cultural and demographic ties with Turkey. In fact, 'Edge of Heaven' starts in Turkey and takes us back and forth across the two countries.

Here, Akin turns his storyline to another ethnic community deeply embedded into the fabric of German society: the Greeks. Adam Bousdoukos (Akin's co-writer here - he had a bit role in 'Head-On') and Moritz Bleibtreu...

Unexpected Pleasure
I must admit I'm not familiar with this director's previous works and didn't know what to expect here. I saw the trailer and it looked good so I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did.

Zinos owns a joint. They serve basic, burger level food, as well as alcohol, to the middle of the middle of society. It's all nondescript. His gal is leaving him for a big promotion in Shanghai. His brother, a daytime parolee from prison wants a job in name only so he can continue his nefarious ways. The guy who rents the back of the industrial building they're in, to finish his boat, never pays his rent. His friend who's in a rock band needs the restaurant as a practice space. The local health department wants to shut him down. The tax collectors are after him for back taxes and a real estate developer wants to buy the building. Oh yeah. He's also thrown his back out.

Things aren't going well for Zinos. He's being pulled in a lot of directions and a lot of bad things are happening...

Eurosoul
SOUL KITCHEN (2009, German with subtitles, 100 minutes) is part "Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares", part "Saturday Night Live" and all hilarious. This is heartwrenching satire at its finest, Euro-style I grant you, but it's a lot better than much of what we've been producing in the States the last few years.

This cautionary tale deals with a young Greek-German restaurant owner who serves nasty frozen pizzas and fish sticks - but boy, does he have a dedicated crowd. The arrow in his side is his burglar brother, whom he loves dearly anyway. One day he needs to find an actual chef and ends up with a psychotic-looking loony bird (who yells things such as "CULINARY RACIST!" at people).

I will not spoil this fantastic ride. It is a comic descent into hell for nearly all the characters in it; it makes country music seem positively bubbly in comparison. It is the courage of this one forlorn Greek character that carries the movie, his courage making country music seem...

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