Culture Watch: La Cocina
A dramatic feast of a film that is worth getting your teeth into.
Written and directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, La Cocina is a dramatic feast of a film that is worth getting your teeth into.
An adaptation of an Arnold Wesker play, The Kitchen, which was first staged in 1957, Ruizpalacios transfers the action to New York City and populates the kitchen with undocumented Latino workers.
The drama is centred around the relationship of a chef, Pedro (Raúl Briones) and a waitress, Julia (Rooney Mara) but Ruizpalacios has crafted an ambitious film that celebrates storytelling, immersing the viewer in an otherworldly milieu where emotions rule.
Presenting the film in black and white somehow heightens every dramatic moment and surreal flourish. It's bold and confident filmmaking that leaves the viewer breathless as chaotic characters spiral through chaotic scenes before finding moments of stillness and intimacy and reflection.
Rooney Mara never delivers a bad performance, and she's great in this. But it's Raúl Briones as Pedro that dominates the screen - his fiery temperament and unpredictability always barely constrained until he can't hold it back any more and it unleashes like a passionate torrent of thwarted dreams and unfulfilled aspiration.
I really enjoyed this. It's a film that reflects a passion for cinema as an art-form, not just a merchandising opportunity.