LA GRANDE MAISON, PARIS

UK Japan, 2024, 111 minutes, Colour.

Takuya Kimura, Kyoka Suzuki, Taecyeon, Ai Tominaga, Patrick Descamps, Yannick Rennier.

Directed by Ayuko Tsukahara.

A film about French cuisine. As indicated by the title, it is the name of a significant restaurant in Paris. The difference is that the chef and most of the staff at the restaurant are Japanese.

The writer and director as well as a great number of the cast had appeared in a Japanese television series, Grand Maison, Tokyo. This time they are in Paris, the restaurant having achieved two Michelin stars but the chef ambitious to get the third.

Clearly, this is a film whose target audience is a public who enjoy food films, cooking films, details of menus and recipes, details of action in the kitchen, details of servers in the highest of class restaurants. They will not be disappointed. (However, some audiences who are not au fait with cuisine, not having experienced these kinds of menus, not familiar with so much of the ingredients and cooking and catering styles, may feel overwhelmed.)

At the beginning of the film, especially for those who have not seen the television series, it is very difficult to sympathise with the chef, Obana. He is ambitious. Moody, harsh treatment of some of the staff, he is driven.

The first part of the film is a disastrous preparation for a menu, cooking failures, the special guests to consider Michelin stars finds the meal abhorrent, distaste. This includes a Japanese influencer, very tall with a haughty manner. It also includes a French restaurateur and his son.

There are also personal conflicts in the kitchen, the assistant cook being fired, dealings with the hall manager, a sympathetic character, several of the cooks with their specialties in the kitchen, and a Korean patisserie expert who has borrowed money and is set upon violently by French thugs.

With the return of the fired assistant and her being skilful in welcoming visitors in the restaurant itself, there is a possibility for some kind of reconciliation, to work against the threat of the restaurant being taken over, and a great deal of time and attention given to the preparation of the third star menu, the range of produce to be purchased in the markets in Paris, the details of all kinds of ingredients, with names of countries of origin, flags, details of the ingredients up there on the screen.

No spoiler in saying that every effort is made in preparation for the meal, the same guests, but the opposite results with so many dishes to taste, expressions of appreciation, and the audience, sitting in the cinema without eating, but observing and, most possibly, envying…

1. The original Japanese television series? This film spin-off? The continued team of writer-director, cast?
2. The Paris settings, restaurant, kitchen, dining area? Outside the restaurant? The streets of Paris? Offices? The musical score?
3. A film for food-lovers, recipes, menus, cooking, serving, the guests? Michelin stars? Restaurants and reputations?
4. The character of Obana? Age and experience, Japan, in Paris, his ambitions, to move from two stars to 3? No indication of his life outside the restaurant? His attitudes, exacting, the firing of Rinko? Dealing with the Hall Manager, the various assistants, the Japanese, the French, International, French and Japanese language? His manner, irascible, demanding? His visits to the markets, interactions with the dealers? The quality of meat? The vegetables?
5. The background characters, Rinko, work in the restaurant, her ambitions in the kitchen, being fired, resignation, going to work with the importer of the meats, with the hall manager, the enthusiasm of the various cooks, their contributions? The Korean, 10 years’ experience, patisserie, school, his own studio, bringing the desserts to the restaurant?
6. The menu for the Michelin star, the confusions, the atmosphere in the kitchen, the preparation of the meals, serving? The guests, Louis Blankin, his status, the ownership of the restaurant, the police, his son, Pascal, their opinions, Linda and her reputation as an influencer, the progress of the meal, distaste, disappointment, leaving?
7. The challenge to Obana, losing the lease, determined to stay, the discussions with Louis blank and, Pascal and his plan to move in, determination?
8. The Korean, his reputation, the money, the thugs, disturbance in the restaurant, demanding the money, coming to his studio, the destruction, the beating? The later apprehension and arrests? His recipes and his goods destroyed? Being taken on by Obana?
9. The reappearance of Rinko, working in the main restaurant, her charm, success with the clients?
10. The plan for the Michelin star, the range of discussions, Rinko and the better meats, the better fruit and vegetables? The discussion about Japanese cooking, the traditions of French cooking, French cooking changing? The outsourcing of all the ingredients – and the signs, on screen, of the origin country, the details of the product?
11. The discussions, the planning of the menu, the various steps, the details of the cooking, mixture, blending, sources, heat…?
12. The drama of the preparation, the attention to the detail? The guests arriving, the serving of the meal, the various dishes, the reactions, favourable? The satisfaction at the end?
13. The ceremony, Obana and his winning, the third Michelin star? Joy, the achievement?
14. The impact of the film for those interested in French cuisine, cooking, menus and ingredients? The non-gourmet audiences?