Director Sitisiri Mongkolsiri deftly contrasts rich and poor. One of Chef Paul’s sous chefs Tone (Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya) invites Aoy to come to Hunger, where he knows she will fit in. She’s too good, he says, for a noodle café. She hesitates, but there’s a gleam in her eye when she meets Chef Paul. He sees her, knows she wants to be special. He also knows that she won’t be special unless he teaches her all of his lessons.
Aoy is keen to learn, determined to get to the top, but there’s always the pull of home. She believes that love and home can be embodied in cooking, but Chef Paul disagrees. He believes only in himself, and his ability to make people want his food. This conflict is central to the film’s dramatic tension.
Aoy’s friends struggle with the daily grind of staying alive. Across town, the rich indulge themselves in every possible way, following the next big name. Tos (Varit Leesavan), a marketing whizz and rival to Chef Paul, sees Aoy’s potential and is ready to catch her when she dismisses herself from Chef Paul’s team after Chef Paul goes a step too far in the jungle.
The film is beautifully structured, moving from Aoy’s noodles with their outstanding aromas and tastes, a metaphor for what’s real, to Chef Paul’s pretentious culinary constructions, which impress his rich clientele but are essentially form over substance.
After two scenes in hospital, Chef Paul having been stabbed by a frustrated underling and Aoy’s father having suffered a heart attack, followed by a tragic family incident and some behind-the-scenes skulduggery by Tone, Aoy and Chef Paul have a final head-to-head at a lavish birthday party.
Like the two contestants in a MasterChef finale, Aoy plays fair, but Chef Paul, true to character, plays only to win and will do anything to see that he does.
Hunger is a good drama that will appeal to Chef’s Table fans as well as to a wider audience, although a few gory scenes make it unsuitable for kids.
Highly recommended
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