Taglines: Life’s greatest journey begins with the first step.
In “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, the Kadam family, led by Papa (Om Puri), settles in the quaint village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. Filled with charm, it is both picturesque and elegant – the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant, the Maison Mumbai.
That is, until the chilly chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin starred, classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant a hundred feet from her own escalate to all out war between the two establishments – until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine and for Mme.
Mallory’s enchanting sous chef, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), combine with his mysteriously delicious talent to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue Saint-Antonin with the flavors of life that even Mme. Mallory cannot ignore. At first Mme. Mallory’s culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.
The Hundred-Foot Journey is an American comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallström from a screenplay written by Steven Knight, adapted from Richard C. Morais’ 2010 novel The Hundred-Foot Journey. The film stars Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon and tells the story of a feud between two adjacent restaurants; one operated by a recently-relocated Indian family and the other managed by a Michelin-starred French chef (Helen Mirren).
About the Story
The Kadam family has run a restaurant in Mumbai for several years. The second-oldest son, Hassan (Manish Dayal), is being groomed to replace his mother (Juhi Chawla) as the restaurant’s main cook. The family’s dreams are disrupted when a mob attacks and firebombs the restaurant over an election dispute. Papa Kadam (Om Puri) and his family successfully evacuate the guests, but Mama is killed in the fire. Seeking asylum in Europe, the family first settles in London, where their residence proves ill-suited for a restaurant. They depart for mainland Europe.
Shortly after crossing the border between Switzerland and France, the brakes on Papa’s van fail near the village Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val. Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), a sous chef at an upscale French restaurant named “Le Saule Pleureur” (literally “The Weeping Willow”), passes by and offers to help the Kadams to find an auto repair shop and a guest house.
She also brings the Kadams to her apartment and treats them to food. Papa is amazed at the quality of the food in the village and its availability. He learns of an abandoned restaurant building on the outskirts of town available for purchase. Seeing this as divine providence, Papa decides to renovate it into an Indian restaurant named “Maison Mumbai”.
The building is directly across the street, a hundred feet from “Le Saule Pleureur”. Its widowed owner, Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), tries to sabotage the Kadams by purchasing all the locally available ingredients needed to cook their dishes on opening night. A cold war erupts between Papa and Madame Mallory. The war peaks on Bastille Day, when one of Madame Mallory’s chefs and two others vandalize the Kadams’ restaurant by spray-painting the outer wall and firebombing the interior. Hassan catches the would-be arsonists in the act and scares them off, but his hands are burned in the process.
The following morning, Madame Mallory convenes a meeting of her chefs and asks if they know the words to “La Marseillaise”. After citing lines from the national anthem concerning equality, justice and fraternity, she fires the chef responsible for the vandalism and then voluntarily cleans up the graffiti. Hassan, having heard that Madame Mallory hires potential chefs by taste-testing an omelette they prepare for her, asks if he may cook an omelette for her to his recipe. Due to his injured hands, he asks Madame Mallory to help him with the process. After sampling Hassan’s omelette, Madame Mallory concedes Hassan’s potential to be a great chef and invites him to work for her. Papa is initially dead set against the move, but reluctantly agrees.
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Directed by: Lasse Hallström
Starring: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Amit Shah, Farzana Dua Elahe, Dillon Mitra, Aria Pandya, Juhi Chawla
Screenplay by: Steven Knight
Production Design by: David Gropman
Cinematography by: Linus Sandgren
Film Editing by: Andrew Mondshein
Costume Design by: Pierre-Yves Gayraud
Set Decoration by: Sabine Delouvrier, Seema Kashyap, Marie-Laure Valla
Music by: A.R. Rahman
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, some violence, language and brief sensuality.
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: August 8, 2014
Visits: 72
