What comes to your mind when you hear Hunger? It’s obvious food. As the name suggests, the movie deals with realms of good food along with hunger for power, status, ambition and the desire to succeed.
Chef Paul states in the opening scene, “The real winners are always the ones who hunger the most,” and this holds true in real life as well. The movie starts with Aoy, a modest chef who’s running a simple, round the corner restaurant in Bangkok. She gets an opportunity to work as a junior sous-chef at Hunger, a fine dining experience. But this has a flip side as well. You need to be perfect to work with Chef Paul and reality hits her, the intricacy of working in a hi-fi restaurant kitchen.
The movie brings to light the essence of food-for some it is to sustain life, for others it is social status. The scene where the young boy yearns for caviar tears my heart and how badly his mother was treated when he broke the jar of caviar.
This movie deals with the class divide in Thailand. It depicts two chefs with different value systems. The acting by Aoy and Chef Paul deserves an applause. The movie brings home the fact that hunger for excellence holds more power than struggle for identity. A dialogue from the movie that has stayed on with me, “To me, food made with love doesn’t exist. You need drive, not love.” But does this hold true??
A great movie skewering the upper-class food culture in Thailand. I suggest you stream it, not skip this one.
