Everyone knows I’m not a huge fan of asian food, but the meals on display in this Korean film are delectable delights. They didn’t exactly whet my apetite but they gave me an appreciation for the beauty and skill involved in what is clearly an art form: the preparation of gourmet food. I’m sure foodies would be even more impressed, which is why I’m recommending this one to KingCasey.

The plot is multi-layered and involves a bit of a Korean history lesson along with the main story of rival chefs competing in a cooking competition. There are also several subplots at play, which keeps things moving along nicely and pad out the A story. I could have done without the comic relief coming in the form of a domestic violence subplot. The harpy-wife stereotype needs to go away now. Actually, beatings figured in the story in other ways as well. I can only imagine it’s a cultural thing since none of the characters seemed taken aback by the idea of corporal punishment used in cooking school. Weird. There were a couple of other moments where I felt like I might have been missing something because of a lack of familiarilty with Korean culture but I also feel like I came away with newfound knowledge of said culture.

My one other complaint is the underuse of the female lead. I understand they needed to throw in a love interest for the protagonist but she was really quite pointless. Towards the end it actually seemed like she might affect the plot but nope, she was just there to… well to be there I guess.

In spite of my few reservations, I enjoyed the experience. Once again, being at Fantasia makes it that much more memorable. There was one woman in the audience who had the most embarrassing laugh I’ve ever heard. She was thankfully trying to suppress it but everytime she laughed, a sound like that of a wailing dog, the rest of us couldn’t help but giggle at her. Poor woman, she must be very lonely. I can’t imagine anyone tolerating that noise on a regular basis.

Anyway, 3 niqueheads for Grand Chef. [rating:30]