SYNOPSIS:
Korean
government holds a nationwide Kimchi contest to reaffirm its
position as the originator of kimchi in Asia. Jang-eun who
is a famed chef in Japan comes back to Korea to participate
in the contest. She also wants to close down the once acclaimed
Korean traditional restaurant that her mother has been running
for years. She never understood her mother for cherishing
the restaurant more than herself and her own daughter.
Sung-chan became separated from his deaf-and-mute mother and
spent his childhood together with Jang-eun. He wants to keep
the restaurant and proposes competing in the Kinchi contest
and Jang-eun agrees that the winner will have the rights to
the restaurant. During the fierce competition they both go
into the finals where they have to find the traditional taste
of kimchi...
MOVIE REVIEW:
It doesn’t matter if you have not seen the first movie- “Le Grand Chef 2” is an in-name only sequel to the earlier 2007 culinary blockbuster. The cast and the characters are entirely new here, though the plot shares obvious similarities with its predecessor. As with the previous film, the stage is a national competition where two rival chefs will battle it out in a fight not only for culinary honours, but also for personal dignity and of course- the perennial theme in any Korean movie- family.
The rivalry this time runs deeper- both chefs are siblings. Jang-eun (played by Kim Jeong-eun) is the chef who returns home from Japan after ten years when a nationwide kimchi contest is announced to reaffirm its position as a uniquely Korean dish. Sung Chan is her younger adopted brother (played by Jin Goo) who enters the competition to save their family’s old restaurant, after Jang-eun announces her plans to close it down as a means of erasing some unpleasant memories.
While the original was content to let the rivalry be drawn neatly between the hero and the villain, this sequel as scripted by the original’s co-writer Shin Dong Ik makes the effort to avoid drawing such stereotypes. Here, Jang-eun is presented less as a heartless daughter than a child who has never been able to come to terms with her mother’s profession as a ki-saeng (Korea’s version of the geisha) in the past. The brunt of her classmates’ taunts when she was young, Jang-eun has since worked hard over the years to prove herself- both as an affirmation to her own abilities and a statement to those who used to look down on her.
In contrast to Jang-eun, Jin Goo’s character Sung Chan may be a little more conventionally drawn. As with the earlier movie, Sung Chan is the film’s protagonist with a past that continues to haunt him- this time, the thought that his mother had abandoned him when he was young. Still, director Baek Dong Hun delivers it with earnestness and sincerity, and the inevitable moment of reconciliation will still leave a lump in your throat.
Jang-eun and Sung Chan’s personal struggles play out against the backdrop of three rounds of the kimchi competition, the prelude to each round again a search for the perfect ingredients to go into the dish. Credit goes to writer Shin Dong Ik for mostly avoiding the unnecessary subplots of the earlier film and instead concentrating mostly on just one- a mother awaiting the return of her son who has been suspected of murder. This apparent diversion in fact proves relevant, as Sung Chan begins to realise the depth of a mother’s love for her child.
Both in story and characterisation therefore, this sequel proves superior to its predecessor, aided by Baek’s confident and assured direction in guiding the proceedings along at just the right pace. Kim Jeong-eun and Jin Goo also prove a good match for each other- Jeong-eun ably portraying the complexities of her character with equal amounts of pride and resentment, while Jin Goo has enough likeable charm to carry off the down-to-earth guy his character is. Especially in our Asian culture, food is more than just about filling one’s stomach- it is also a symbol of love, of togetherness, of family. And so it is with “Le Grand Chef 2”, the warmth it gives to its audience not simply from the delicious food you see onscreen but also from love, togetherness and most importantly, family.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
There’s a 6-minute “Making Of” featurette cut from B-roll footage of the film and cast interviews. Unless you speak Korean, don’t bother- it doesn’t come with subtitles of any form. Besides that, there’s also the trailer and a photo gallery included within.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 delivers good surround effect through the back speakers with the ambient sound in the film, as well as the occasionally bombastic soundtrack. The disc’s visual transfer is excellent, especially in its colour contrast that presents the mouth-watering food in all its vividness.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 14 August 2010
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