A Touch Of Spice

Film Details

Cast

Georges Corraface, Leroklis Michaelidis, Renia Louizidou

Technical Details

Star Review

On its release in 2003, this Greek box-office record breaker put Hellenic cinema right back on the map. The film begins in picturesque Constantinople, where Fanis’s idyllic childhood, in which he learns about the world through herbs and spices in his grandfather's grocery shop, is disrupted when his family are deported to Greece. He has to bid farewell to his former life, his grandfather and to Saime, his first love. He is sent to an initially hostile Athens, where he slowly adapts to the new cultural climate, using his culinary skills to spice up the lives of those around him.
Often described as the best Greek film ever made, the film beautifully details the social and political backdrop behind the central love story at this dark stage in Greece's history, yet remains funny and delightful throughout, revealing authentic Greek traditions and cultural sensitivities (unlike the crude stereotyping in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding).
There is much to savour here – it’s a must for all foodie-film fans!

Rena Markogiannaki on 21st May 2007

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Film Description

(AKA Politiki kouzina). The most successful Greek movie of all time is a flavoursome epic about a man torn between his Greek ethnicity and Turkey, the country of his birth. Growing up, he learned from the culinary and philosophical expertise of his grandfather. 35 years later he returns home for an emotional reunion with his family and his first love.

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