Event

Touch of Spice

This is a Greek film, part of which is set in Istanbul. It's about the love of food, and made in the tradition of Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolate. As a young boy, Fanis spends a lot of time in his Grandfather's spice shop learning about life, the universe and everything, as it is written within the herbs and spices. As he learns that life requires a little spice here and there to make it interesting, he also learns how to cook up a storm along the way, winning the heart of a young girl who dances for him. When he is forced to re-locate to Greece with his family, he loses contact with the girl and has very little contact with his grandfather but he keeps the dream alive with his supposed unnatural obsession with cooking. More than 30 years later, Fanis is a professor of astrophysics who knows the placement of all the planets and stars but has himself lost his way. So naturally he returns to the place of his childhood, his grandfather and the girl who he still pines for. It's a lovely, gentle film sprinkled with the humor of human foibles. - ABC Brisbane