Soul Kitchen (2009)

In Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.

Director:

Fatih Akin

Writers:

Fatih Akin (screenplay), Adam Bousdoukos (screenplay)

Stars:

Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu, Pheline Roggan

3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Bousdoukos	...	Zinos Kazantsakis
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Illias Kazantsakis
Pheline Roggan	...	Nadine Krüger
Anna Bederke	...	Lucia Faust
Birol Ünel	...	Shayn Weiss
Dorka Gryllus	...	Anna Mondstein
Wotan Wilke Möhring	...	Thomas Neumann
Lucas Gregorowicz	...	Lutz
Demir Gökgöl	...	Sokrates
Cem Akin	...	Milli
Marc Hosemann	...	Ziege
Catrin Striebeck	...	Frau Schuster vom Finanzamt
Ugur Yücel	...	Knochenbrecher
Udo Kier	...	Herr Jung
Monica Bleibtreu	...	Nadines Großmutter

Storyline

In Hamburg, Zinos has a restaurant serving poor-man's fare; he gets by, but his girlfriend has taken a job in Shanghai, he's hurt has back and can't cook, his feckless brother can be on daily parole from jail only if Zinos employs him (though his brother doesn't want to work), a school acquaintance wants to buy the restaurant property, and the tax authority and health inspector are on his case. Zinos hires a temperamental chef and loses all his customers, signs a power of attorney giving his brother full authority at the restaurant, and buys a ticket to Shanghai. Is this a recipe for disaster?

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Plot Keywords:

chef | death of grandmother | prison | greek | poker | 

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Taglines:

"Leben ist, was passiert, waehrend du dabei bist, andere Plaene zu machen" (Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German Greek

Release Date:

25 December 2009 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Aska ruhunu kat

Filming Locations:

Bremen, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,916 (USA) (20 August 2010)

Gross:

$274,385 (USA) (5 November 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Corazón International, Dorje Film, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actress who played Nadine's grandmother (Monica Bleibtreu) in real life was the mother of the actor (Moritz Bleibtreu) who played the role of the brother of the main character in this movie. Monica Bleibtreu died in May 2009 and is remembered in the closing credits.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Romantics (2010)

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Soundtracks

"SOUL TALK 70"
Performed by JOHNNY 'HAMMOND' SMITH

User Reviews

an intelligent comedy

It very rare these times to see a comedy that is not slapstick -funny (trying to extort in some ways the laughter from the audiences) but truly funny in a way that is sweet and charming. I will not talk about the director's previous work because this is a completely new genre for him, and in any case this is not an overall overview of his films. This one stands alone as an example for some people in Hollywood. It is not funny because it exploits some racial stereotypes (no mousaka here) but because it creates a subtle caricature of situations that many of us have experienced (i.e. the one with the tax collectors). The script is very smart and full of reversals of fate that keep the spectators on their toes, the main characters are interesting and the acting wonderful... And because no one mentioned the soundtrack...It is truly unique..Too bad that many of the songs are in Greek and the deeper meaning of the lyrics and their connection to the plot is lost in translation. A must see film for everyone that wants to see a feel-good movie with an actual plot..