Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 8
Director Alonso Ruizpalacios dug deep into his past to make “La Cocina”, a frenetic look at the lives, loves and chaos surrounding the migrants who work in a restaurant on New York City’s Times Square.
The Mexican-US drama, one of 20 films competing for the festival’s Golden Bear top prize, was, he said, designed to show the fate of migrants, who, far from reaching a promised land after long and perilous journeys, often continued to live in a state of suspension.
A 10-minute shot, filmed over a week, tracks the intricate dance of cooks and servers, Mexican, Moroccan, Ecuadorian and even American, as, laughing and rowing in a dozen languages, they turn chaos into lunch.
“I saw in it an opportunity to portray the loneliness of the migrant,” said Anna Diaz, who portrayed. 19-year-old Estela, a cook newly arrived from Mexico, blinking back tears.
Insecurity breeds bravado and toxic masculinity as the disenfranchised workers strive to assert any form of control they have via stolen kisses with co-workers they alternately idolise and belittle.
For Raul Briones Carmona, the testosterone-fueled role of Pedro, a prodigal cook with little emotional control, was the first they had played since transitioning to non-binary.
Source: Reuters
