A Touch of Spice (4½ Stars)

This is the first Greek film I've ever watched, and it's beautiful. The original Greek title is ambiguous, and can mean either "The Cuisine of the City" or "Political Cuisine". Both meanings apply to the film.

Fanis Iakovidis was born in Istanbul in the mid 1950's. His mother was Turkish, but his father was a Greek whose family had lived in Turkey for several generations. Fanis' grandfather Vasilis (his mother's father) owned a shop that sold spices. Fanis spent all his time in Vasilis' shop and developed a deep love for cooking and a talent far in excess of his years. For instance, at the age of five he got up in the middle of the night and cooked the food his mother had bought for a party. His parents wanted to tell him off, but when they tasted how good the food was they forgave him.

Due to the military conflicts in Cyprus Turkey began to expel Greek immigrants. In 1963 Fanis' father was told he had to return to Greece unless he agreed to become a Moslem. He refused and had to leave the country eight days later, taking his wife and son with him. Vasilis repeatedly promised to visit them in Greece, but he never did, always making an excuse at the last moment. As we later find out, Vasilis might have loved his Greek relatives, but he hated Greece.

Cooking remained Fanis' passion over the years. In school he didn't play with the other boys, he sat with the girls giving them food he had cooked. His father forbade him to enter the kitchen, so for the next two years he slept in the bathtub as a protest. Eventually he found a solution: he went to a brothel every day to cook for the prostitutes.

When Fanis hears that his grandfather is on his deathbed he decides to go back to Istanbul to see him. This is his first visit for 40 years. In all this time Fanis has never married because he still loves Saime, a Turkish girl who used to visit his grandfather's shop. He meets Saime again and attempts to rekindle their childhood romance.

It's difficult to explain why I like this film so much. Something about it moves me. It's the childhood innocence of a boy who idolises his grandfather. It's the touching love of a young boy that he clings to all his life. It's also the fascinating obsession of a boy, later a man, who sees spices as the focal point of all life on Earth.