If you had the choice of picking your last meal, what would it be? If you haven’t thought about it yet, it is likely that Hunger, the new Thai film making all the right noises on Netflix, will make you do that. A commentary on the class divide in Thailand, the film revolves around the discourse on the haves and have-nots.
Aoy (a terrific Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying), a local noodle-shop chef and a culinary prodigy, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she is asked to join a high-end restaurant called Hunger. “A kitchen has no place for democracy. It is a dictatorship,” says a character, and at Hunger, Chef Paul (a brilliant Nopachai Chaiyanam) is the tyrant.
The way Aoy is integrated into the kitchen is reminiscent of the teacher-student scenes in Whiplash. In fact, most of the scenes involving the mentor-mentee are visceral, brutal, and yet, profound. Despite having a host of secondary characters, including Aoy’s family and potential love interest, Hunger is primarily about these two chefs, who come from different value systems.
A compelling reflection of society, its indifference and depravity, the film is essentially about the hunger for excellence, and the hunger to get out of the doldrums of mediocrity in a fast-paced world. It expectedly makes the larger point of finding a true calling, and how it is always lonely at the top. Although realistic, it isn’t aspirational in the way it shows Aoy, an ambitious young woman, who is great at her job, rethinking her strategies every step of the way because the men around are trying to impose their worldviews on her.
The film shines the brightest when Aoy and Paul are in conversation. Take, for instance, the scene where she asks him why he became a chef. The answer, much like another loved movie about the culinary arts, Ratatouille, lies in the chef’s childhood. While Ratatouille takes a dreamy route to emphasise the beauty of simple things, Hunger paints an ungainly portrait of the ugliness in our world.
The way Paul berates his staff and shows off his superiority is an oft-repeated representation of professional kitchens across the world, but it is his take on exclusivity and the smugness of the rich that add zing to Hunger. As the credits roll, and Aoy figures out her true place in a world that will always exalt the Pauls despite everything they do, it shows us that the hunger for excellence needs to first overcome the struggle for identity.
Hunger
Director: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
Genre: Drama
Platform: Netflix
Language: Thai