Master Chef Cheng (Master cheng), the new film by director Mika Kaurismaki, is a heartwarming connection between Lapland and China; Between sausages and potatoes and fine Chinese cuisine, against the background of the beautiful scenery of Finnish Lapland and China.
Chang is a Chinese chef who lost his wife. He travels with his young son to a remote village in Finland, to renew contact with an old Finnish friend he met in Shanghai. None of the villagers know the friend, but the beautiful Sirka, the owner of the local cafe, offers him a place to sleep and in return Chang helps in the kitchen. He surprises the locals with exotic delicacies, and soon begins to make new friends.
Master Schatz Chang is a comedy drama about fine food, the beautiful landscapes of Lapland and a meeting of different cultures. This is the story of a surprising meeting, an acquaintance of two ordinary people from different places and cultures.
The film, which was shot in Lapland and China, takes place entirely in a local diner, which begins as a routine and popular place in terms of cuisine, with the ‘house dish’ – sausages and mashed potatoes, which really does not stimulate the appetite to say the least. Surprisingly, it turns out that the guest from China is a talented and creative chef, who turns the place upside down, and changes the heavenly and local menu into a real gourmet, on the purest of Chinese food, with a delicious noodle dish, fish soup and tempting desserts. Some residents embrace the change immediately and with great joy, and for some it takes some time. But in the end everyone was blown away by the charm of the Chinese taste, and of the chef who brought the news.
Mika Kaurismäki is one of the most well-known and prominent directors and producers in Finland. He has directed and produced many successful feature films and documentaries, and has won several international awards and Jossi awards – very important in the Finnish film industry.
The star of the film, Chu Pak Hong Chu, is an award-winning actor, director and musician in China. In 2007 he won the Young Actor Award in Hong Kong, participated in a large number of theater productions both as an actor and as a director, and also appears as a singer in a musical group. Master Chef Cheng is his first international film.
Director Mika Kaurismaki says: “In terms of the plot, the story is deliberately based on minimalism, with the principle of “small is beautiful”. The film is largely based on the creation of the atmosphere, the details and the vibrations buzzing beneath the surface. The places where the film was shot are also an important part of it. I wanted to establish the The film in Lapland, in which the landscape is not only beautiful and exotic but exposed and visible. In Lapland, man must face nature but also himself.”
The film is a Finnish-British-Chinese production, 2020, speaking English, Finnish and Mandarin. Hebrew and English translation. 114 minutes. New cinema distribution in Israel. Screened from 21.7.22 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and throughout the country