Hunger (2023)
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Duration: 146 minuten
Country:
Thailand
Directed by: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
Stars: Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Nopachai Jayanama and Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya
IMDb score:
6,6 (22.022)
Releasedate: 4 April 2023
Hunger plot
"There is a hunger that can never be fulfilled."
Aoy is a woman in her twenties. She runs her family's local noodle restaurant in Bangkok's old quarter. One day she receives an invitation to leave the family business and join the team 'Hunger', led by the notorious, genius and ruthless chef Paul.
Reviews & comments
blurp194
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- 5543 messages
- 4226 votes
Very nice movie.
But not without flaws - just to start with, a clear focus on what really should have been the message of the narrative really helped a lot. For example, to limit the ridiculously long playing time to an hour. Is that perhaps something cultural, a lost in translation that I miss there, I wonder.
The beginning is unusually strong, with the over the top chef of Chaiyanam making Fiennes' sinister role in The Menu a breeze. The unusually bloody first course of the general's menu - not entirely without risk, incidentally, to include something about the army in your film in Thailand. But after that the plot collapses way too much, and when it comes back Chaiyanam has a nice trick up his sleeve, but also loses too much of his style as an haute cuisine stone arranger.
The ending is ok, but not overwhelming - and that still feels like a missed opportunity, because if it had come an hour earlier it might have been much more. Still, plenty is still coming through, even in the hour that feels superfluous. The idiocy of the masses, the idiocy of the easily obtained wealth. Perhaps that is the message Mongkolsiri has for us - how far society has become today, and how far we are from family and food for the purpose of nutrition.
No, it can't hurt at all if that food is expertly prepared. But much of restaurant culture is clearly way over the borderline of evil decadence - sophistry from people who have never really understood the "don't play with your food" lesson. A step back is allowed once in a while, and this film, just like The Menu, sends a clear signal for that. Nothing wrong with a plate of cry baby noodles, and you really don't need pieces of stone to spice it up.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Recently, the (more commercial) films about nutrition have come after The Menu (Film, 2022) and Boiling Point (Film, 2021). Well, at least for me, because I happened to see them very close together. A Thai Netflix production indeed, which will probably be experienced by a wider audience.
Although different in approach and content from the two aforementioned films, there are also underlying similarities. When watching, I often wondered how such top chefs look at the customer. Are they egocentric trippers who boast about these experiences, but actually don't give a damn about the food and know nothing about it? Don't they feel enslaved by capitalist demand and the ever-demanding expectation of perfection? I had the idea that chef Paul was going to look for the direction of chef Slowik from The menu, but it didn't, or rather not (yet).
Furthermore, the necessary attention for the sacrifices and all the losses that go with it: friends, family, ... are at the expense of wanting to be "special". Now I found Aoy's advance rather steep and quickly unrealistic, I found it fascinating.
Stylish movie. Well portrayed. One that kept my full attention despite the rather long playing time. I found the first half hour very strong. The ending isn't bad, but it didn't have the suspense I was expecting (although the battle was worth following).
Translated from Dutch · View original
Black Math
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- 5430 messages
- 1753 votes
Beautifully filmed, but not entirely believable. Things in the kitchen just don't seem right. For example, if the main character has a task to perform, her colleagues have extensive time to watch her instead of devoting themselves to their own tasks. An afternoon of cooking with a colleague already ensures that she has mastered all cooking techniques. I hardly believe it.
Apart from these points, the film is indeed interesting, in which the characters have different views on cooking that are perhaps not so much contradictory as it seems at first sight: the main character clearly comes from a culinary family where love is an important ingredient for the cooking process seems to be. Chef Paul, on the other hand, has nothing to do with love and believes that you can serve rich people anything as long as it is exclusive. I think he has a point there too. And yet it is a bit confusing with what the film presents to you, because apparently his cooking skills in the film are so good that the rich people throw themselves at his food like animals, with no snobbery. In any case, it produces interesting images that are somewhat reminiscent of the food scene in Avalon.
Not entirely coherent and credible, therefore, also on the long side, so that the film ultimately gets stuck at 3*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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