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THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

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By: debbie lynn elias

To paraphrase screenwriter Steven Knight, “Food is memories”.  Since the days of a feeble
Oliver Twist innocently saying “Please sir, I want some more” to Scarlet O’Hara infamously
avowing “I’ll never go hungry again” to Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka to Ratatouille to the
Food Network and all its esculent edibles of every type imaginable, we have had a love
affair with food.  Within just the past year, food and the culinary arts have become front
and center on the big screen with lms like Jon Favreau’s “Chef” or “Haute Cuisine” and
“Le Chef”.  Is it world turmoil and economic upsets and the need for hearth and home and
warm memories of the family gathered around the kitchen table at night sharing a meal
that drives us to crave comestible comfort, even if vicariously on screen?  Who knows. 
But whatever the reason, food and family are touchstones for us all.  When director Lasse
Hallstrom last seduced both the foodie and romantic within us, it was with the sensory
intoxications of “Chocolat”.  Now, with THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY, he delivers a rich
savory blend of cinematic sugar and spice guaranteed to satisfy the hungriest cinephile!
With a pinch of humor and a dash of romance blended to perfection, Hallstrom uses a
light touch when whisking his cinematic ingredients together for one of the most
delectable delights of the year.

Victims of racist violence that destroys their livelihood and their life in their home of
Mumbai, the Kadam family up and moves for a more idyllic and pastoral life in the south of
France.  Intent on resurrecting their business and bringing Indian cuisine to this uncharted
territory of Michelin stars and haute cuisine, Papa and his brood, led by the culinary talents
of eldest son Hassan, nd an old stone manse that will serve their purposes nicely for the
familial ambience they seek.  With scent of aromatic lling and Indian music infusing the
casual open air design of the new Maison Mumbai, what can possibly go wrong, what’s
not love.  Madame Mallory, that’s what.
Holder of a Michelin star, and desperate to earn its second, Le Saule Pleureur is the life’s
blood of the OCDC perfectionist Madame Mallory who has maintained the traditions of
elegance and ne dining started by her now deceased husband.  Unfortunately, Le Saule
Pleureur is located just 100-feet across the gravel covered street from Maison Mumbai,
something to which Madame and her staff do not take kindly; after all, what kind of
restaurant has chickens and children wandering free.  Maison Mumbai must go.

It doesn’t take long before the battle of the kitchen wars takes hold with Madame Mallory
and Papa butting heads at every turn, often to comedic result. But while the two of them
duke it out everywhere from sidewalk cafes to the local farmers’ market to city hall, debbie lynn
Hassan and Madame’s sous-chef Marguerite are exploring the culinary wonders of the
elias Follow
region and their two cultures, with Marguerite tacitly instructing Hassan in the art of
meter-approved Film Critic.
French cooking.  While the sexual and professional tension between the two simmers to a Creator/Host @BTLRadioShow
low boil, it’s obvious that the real re is between Madame and Papa. on Adrenaline Radio.
Moderator. Producer.
But what happens when the ames of competition erupt into ames of hatred with the Journalist. @HCACritics
Kadams once again on the receiving end of violence and Hassan’s dreams of becoming a @LAPressClub @spj_tweets
@BPPhilly
world class chef seemingly dashed.

debbie lynn elias

9h
Thank goodness for the
@Yellowstone Season 4
marathon today on
@paramountnet.
Needed the wedding of
Rip and Beth to cleanse
my palette after that
Oscar train wreck.
#YellowstoneTV

As Madame Mallory, Helen Mirren is as regal as ever. Describing the lm as a “a joy to do. .
. [b]e in that part of France, making a movie about food.. . .with three such delightful co- debbie lynn elias
stars as I had – Charlotte [Le Bon] and Manish [Dayal] and Om [Puri]”, it’s Mirren and the
10h
equally legendary and talented Puri who do the heavy emotional lifting.  Admitting that
being able to employ a French accent and speak French which is self-admittedly “quite So Will Packer, ABC, and
good”, Mirren is both luminous and chameleonic as the hauteur Madame.  Of the The Academy were
philosophy that costume is as important a foundation to a character as foundational "streamlining" the
garments, Mirren was “quite proactive” in the look of Madame Mallory.  “It’s of paramount #Oscars by pulling 8
importance, really, how you look and what you wear; that it tells the right story. . . That awards out of live
said, we had a brilliant costume designer who is actually a wonderful French guy, Pierre- presentation during
Yves Gayraud.”  Transforming Mirren into what she describes as a “chic French woman”, telecast. How'd that work
notable is the incremental change to hair, make-up and wardrobe mirroring the emotional out for you? The show ran
growth of the story as Madame goes from rigid and stoic to a welcoming softness.  Hair is 42 minutes over.... 90
looser, bouncy, and not as severe, eye shadow is added to make up, clothes go from rigid minutes of variety show
dark-colored suits to print silk dresses with scarves and Indian-infused pashimas level blah could have
metaphorically acting as an onion with layers being peeled away.  As Hallstrom notes, been removed and the
“Costume design was actually very clever and subtle.” awards included.

debbie lynn elias

11h
LIZA! This is a nice
surprise!! #Oscars

debbie lynn elias

11h
And Will Smith doesn't
apologize to @chrisrock.
Furthering Mirren’s performance is her own pre-production preparation into the persona Unacceptable. #Oscars
and ambience of a ne restaurant.  Amazed “to see the extent to which chefs and
restaurant owners are absolutely obsessed with food. . .but in this wonderful generous
way; they’re not obsessed with food for themselves.  They’re obsessed with giving debbie lynn elias
someone the most incredible experience”, Mirren spent a day in a local Beverly Hills 11h
restaurant observing.  Arriving at 9 am “when really the action in the kitchen of a
restaurant starts happening”, Mirren became a y on the wall.  “I just stood quiet in the Love @SamuelLJackson
corner and watched everything going on.  That was absolutely fascinating!  Extraordinary.  !!!!!!! #Oscars
Sort of like a wonderful ballet of people moving around each other, small space, everyone
knowing exactly where everything is, where they should be at any one time.  The beauty of Load More...
the workings, like a beautifully oiled machine.  Quiet.  Absolutely silent.  Maybe a little bit
of talking, but not raucous, no one shouting. . .Fascinating!”

Joining Mirren as the elder statesman in THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY is Om Puri. 

Matching Mirren skewer for skewer, creme puff for creme puff, the two sizzle and sparkle
like a perfectly grilled steak and nest glass of champagne.  Crediting Puri as turning the
cast and crew into “one big family”, according to Mirren, who Puri is in real life isn’t too
different than Papa.  “He loves to make feasts.  He’s a big family man and he just makes
everyone around him into his family.  He has that quality that he has on-screen, in real life,
of just being this guy who loves life, loves, food loves women, loves family; that kind of a
guy.  So, he’s just a complete delight to be around.”   For producer Juliet Blake, Puri was
her rst choice for Papa.  “I wanted to go for somebody who had the best acting chops
rather than somebody who had a particular look. . .Om is somebody who has worked in
Pakistan as an actor as well as in India.  For me, it was sort of the cross-culturalness of
that that made [Mirren and Puri] interesting to play opposite each other.”   The result is a
performance that is both commanding and tender.

As Hassan and Marguerite, Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon bring a fresh youthful
vibrancy to the menu, something for which Hallstrom is most appreciative. “[T]here’s a lot
of wonderful life, if I may say myself, especially between the young kids Manish and
Charlotte, who were also interested in trying to forget that there was a camera there and
really be honest and listen to each other.”  They succeed in their efforts and ll the
performances with natural organic facial responsiveness and re ex.  To prepare for their
roles, each had to go through some intensive culinary training in order to not only capture
that ballet precision Mirren noticed in her kitchen observations, but for preparation and
handling of food.  Style and technique were essential for each to capture the expertise
necessary to imbue the lm with authenticity.  However, scripted authenticity only went so
far with Dayal who dazzled with his own culinary skills in a key omelet making scene. 
Playing to Hallstrom’s belief in freedom to ad-lib and infuse personality into a role,
according to producer Blake,  the omelet that Hassan makes is actually “[Dayal’s] father’s
recipe and he insisted on the buttermilk.  That was the omelet.  And when he was saying
to Madame Mallory, ‘Put some more in’ and she gives that look like ‘I don’t know’ – that is
exactly how his family make omelets.”

Written by Steven Knight (the genius behind this year’s sleeper hit “Locke”) and adapted
from the novel of the same name by Richard C. Morais, THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY is
more about capturing the avor of the book and the cross-culture pollination of France
and India than its speci c details; and that’s more than okay as it allows director Lasse
Hallstrom to bring a delicate airy lightness to the lm.  Capitalizing on stereotypical
cliches about the two cultures – the snobbish rude French, the garish loud music loving
colorful Indians, the love of food and cooking – the cliches are also treated with a light
touch adding fuel for fun and funny and setting the stage for rich performances from the
lm’s cast.  The conceptual ideals of “a journey” are elicited on so many levels – romance,
self-discovery, professional growth, cultural growth.  Life is a journey.  It may as well be a
tasty one.

Subtextually, THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY is a blueprint for cultural co-existence,

celebrating the underdog who gets by with a little help from his friends – and sometimes
enemies –  making food the true melting pot for the world.  Inner con ict runs deepest
within the character of Hassan and his journey.  Unfortunately, that con ict never quite
feels that con icted or fully eshed out; be it due to script or performance, I’m still not
certain.
Known for his practice of letting the camera run and giving actors the opportunity to
deliver variations of the scripted performance, not to mention his patented “One for Fun”
nal scene shots, Hallstrom recalled that “with Om’s presence there and Helen’s skill
offering 10-15 varied options on each take, she’s so smart and inventive, all that created
an atmosphere like a feeler for me of an Indian family.”  The result gave Hallstrom and
editor Andrew Mondshein “tons of footage” to cull through in cutting the nal lm, and I
must say, there’s not a visual mis-step in the lm.

Linus Sandgren’s cinematography is nothing short of delicate beauty, allowing the avor of
story and performance to bubble to the top of the production.  Be they the panoramic
vistas of the region, a saturated inky starlit night, the pale elegant classicism of Madame’s
restaurant or the vibrant color lled richness of the local market, every image is just one
more tasty morsel of enjoyment.  The light in the lm has a “light” touch to it; bright, yet
soft, and just lacing the lightness of the lm as a whole.  Shooting on 35mm, widescreen
lensing captures the bucolic pastoral beauty of the green trees and grassy land that
surround both restaurants which, ironically are actually located 650 miles apart.  A facade
representing Le Saule Pleureur was erected across the drive from the Maison Mumbai for
lensing the repeated 100-foot journeys between the two restaurants while exteriors of La
Saule Pleureur such as the party scene were lensed at the second storybook country
location.  Aerial wide shots celebrate the metaphor of short distances bridging worlds and
cultures.

It was actually Sandgren who convinced Hallstrom to shoot THE HUNDRED-FOOT

JOURNEY on lm.  Calling Sandgren “my favorite DP now”, Hallstrom feels the two
“connected so well, almost a magical instinctual connection, the same way of thinking”
leading to visuals and tone that have a lightness to them, with visual texture that is
metaphoric for the emotional texture.   As Hallstrom notes, “there is a much more subtlety
in lm. . .a lm camera observes color much more in detail and much more subtle than a
digi-camera can do.”  Be it capturing the misty quality of the air at sunrise, the bucolic
natural colors of the greens and the blues and that French sky or the sparkle of a sh
splashing in the river, the result is luminous.

A production element present here not typically required on set are the culinary
consultants – both for principal lming and for reshoots. As vegan Hallstrom laughs, “We
had an Indian specialist and French specialist chef.  And some of the food that was made,
there was too much attention to taste than to the actual look!” which led to the talents of
Floyd Cardoz who “was important because he was on the re-shoot when we did additional
shooting.  We had to re-shoot some of the closeups of the food.. .For us it was more
important to look right rather than taste right!”

A surprising subtlety of the lm is its score.  I say surprising as the composer is A.R.
Rahman who typically has a heavier hand than we hear with THE HUNDRED-FOOT
JOURNEY.  Composing a score with a great symphonic classicism that’s infused with the
Bollywood sensibility for which he’s more well known, the result is beauteous.  Working
collaboratively, Hallstrom describes the scoring process. “We went through all the cues
and said, ‘Now, here’s a French one, here’s an Indian one, here’s one where they collide,
here’s one where they fuse, here’s a classical French symphonic version with an Indian
avor to it.’  We had all kinds of labels like that.  I got to work with him in his studio while
he recorded it.  That was fun!  I could be immediately be there to say this or that, more of
that.  He improvises a lot like I do.  He does his music recording kind of similar to my way
of working with lm – last second impulses.”

No last second impulse needed here.  Ful lling, rich and delicious, THE HUNDRED-FOOT
JOURNEY is an effervescent delight, sizzling with cinematic and emotional avor.

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom

Written by Steven Knight based on the novel by Richard Morais
Cast: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon

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