Soul Kitchen

Soul Kitchen

Wacky! Creative! Funny! Unusual!

This bizarre film was a rare treat and I never knew what was going to happen in the next minute. The German film with English subtitles is written and directed by Fatih Akin. The screen play was co-written by Adam Bousadoukoos who plays the part of Zinos. Zinos is the owner of the Soul Kitchen. Restaurant.

It is a rundown warehouse looking restaurant. The kitchen is a total mess. The patrons dine on hamburgers and pizza. The waitress is an artist in her spare time and the bartender plays in a band. The band practices free of charge at Soul Kitchen. At the back of the restaurant there is a tenant who builds boats. He looks like the fisherman on the Hi Liner sea food products. He appears quietly in many scenes and hardly speaks. I found it funny just to watch him in all the scenes.

Things seem to happen at a fast pace. Zios has a girlfriend from a wealthy family. She moves to Shanghai to be a correspondent and wants Zios to come and live with her. They are so different and you just know that this relationship could never work. She is charming, sweet and pretty. He always appears in the same clothes. She even tells him that he smells.

Things get complicated when Zios’s brother Illios is on partial parole. He convinces Zios to allow him to work for him. If he finds work the jail would release him. Zios signs the papers but Illios has other plans than to actually work in the restaurant. He is always seen with his stooge like buddies. They are up to o good.

Zios hires a chef who had been fired from a first rate restaurant. He is temperamental beyond belief. He screams and yells and throws things around. It is so much fun to watch him create some spectacular cuisine. The problem is that the guests want their greasy fish and hamburgers and leave the restaurant.

A former friend of Zios plots to have Zios sell him the restaurant. He is a nasty piece of work. He is so mean and sends the tax people and the health department to cause trouble for Zios.

Events happen at such a past pace. If you blink you miss part of the action.

The chef puts an aphrodisiac in the dessert and the whole place turns into a love fest. Such a scene could be a disaster. In this case it is hilarious and perfectly performed.

Zios hurts his back while trying to lift a broken dishwasher. This should not be a funny scene. However it leads to much laughter as we watch Zios go to an attractive physio for help. She takes him to a Turkish healer who uses torture like tactics to cure him.

The characters in this film are almost comic book like. I thought it was a brilliant piece of comedy.